NAVAL DAYS 




Class. 

Book._ 

Copyright )j^_ 



CDEHUGJHCr DEPOSm 




WILLIAM RADFORD III 

From a Miniature Painted Shortly After His Marriage, 1848 



OLD NAVAL DAYS 

SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF 
REAR ADMIRAL WILLIAM RADFORD, U.S.N. 



BY HIS DAUGHTER 

SOPHIE RADFORD DE MEISSNER 




NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
1920 



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C 1 -D ij ,^'^ 



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CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Introduction i 

II. Early Days in St. Louis lo 

III. La Fayette » i? 

IV. Under Commodore John Rodgers . . . 37 

V. " Old Ironsides " 55 

VI. Back in St. Louis 84 

VII. Varied Experiences 90 

VIII. The Oregon Question 97 

IX. Outbreak of the Mexican War . . . .116 

X. The " Malek Adhel " 130 

XI. California 136 

XII. Crossing the Plains 167 

XIII. MoRRiSTowN 178 

XIV. Between Cruises 203 

XV. The Yangtsze Kiang 219 

XVI. The " Cumberland " 234 

XVII. Fitting Out Ships for the U. S. Government 256 

XVIir' The " New Ironsides " 272 

XIX. The North Atlantic Squadron .... 303 

XX. The Washington Navy Yard . . . .31? 

XXI. Glimpses of Social Life at the V/ashington 

Yard 327 

XXII. The European Squadron 333 

XXIII. Paris in August, 1870 365 

XXIV. Last Years 372 

Appendix 3^5 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

William Radford III Frontispiece 

From a miniature painted shortly after his marriage, 1848. 

FACING 
PAGE 

William Radford ist of Goochland Co., Va., Sergeant, 
ist Va. Regt., Revolutionary War, and His Daughter, 
Marie Antoinette Radford 6 

Harriet Kennerly Radford Clark 22 

U. S. S. Brandywine, Com. Biddle, off Malta, Nov. 6, 1831. 

U. S. S. Concord, Capt. Perry, in Background . . 26 

La Fayette 38 

After a painting by Scheffer, 1824. 

The U. S. Frigate Constitution, Famous also in Naval 

History as " Old Ironsides " 80 

General William Clark, Territorial Governor of Missouri 86 
Of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 

U. S. Frigate Constellation 102 

U. S. Frigate Savannah 118 

Flagship of the Pacific Squadron, 1844. 

Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny 134 

Later, General in the IVLexican War and active in the Con- 
quest of California. 

Mary Elizabeth Lovell 182 

From a miniature made in 1850. 

Commodore Radford 230 

From a daguerrotype made before sailing in the Dacotah 
for China in i860. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



VACING 

Page 



U. S. S. Cumberland 246 

U. S. Frigate New Ironsides 294 

Commodore Radford's flagship, 1864. 

U. S. S. Malvern ^lo 

Flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron. 

Rear Admiral William Radford 342 

From a portrait made when in command of the European 
Squadron, 1869-70. 

U. S. S. Franklin 358 

Flagship of the European Squadron, 1869. 

U. S. S. Wyoming 372 

U. S. Torpedo Boat Destroyer Radford . . . 380 



A REMINISCENCE 

Psychologists might possibly affirm that the memory of an 
incident occurring at so early an age could not be retained in 
mind, but throughout my life has a picture been present to my 
inner consciousness, and, although I never questioned my father 
as to its accuracy — any more than would I have questioned him 
as to any other established certitude of our ordinary existence — 
I am just as positive that it happened as am I of any other event 
that ever took place in my life. 

The " setting " was in our old home at Morristown, N. J. 

In a high four-poster bed lay my mother surrounded by pillows, 
while in a chair on the far side of the room sat a nurse with a 
young baby in her arms. Leaning against the nurse's knee, and 
gazing wonderingly at this small specimen of humanity, stood a 
wee mite of a girl not yet two years old — myself! 

Then it happened! 

Looking straight into my eyes the nurse with undesigned 
brutality exclaimed: 

"Ah ha! Your nose is out of joint! " 

The cryptic significance of this speech was naturally far be- 
yond my comprehension, but in my infant mind was the fore- 
shadowing of some dire calamity — perchance that of a literal ful- 
filment of the words — and raising my voice in a wail of despair I 
rushed frantically through the partly open door of the room, 
only to fail at full length across a basin filled with water that was 
set just outside. The wail at this became a frenzied roar, when 
my father, who had just reached the head of the stairs on the 

ix 



X A REMINISCENCE 

opposite side of the great square hall, sprang forward and lifted 
me, all dripping, in his arms. 

How I made him understand I know not, but, between heart- 
breaking sobs, I repeated as best I could, the fatal words, when 
grasping — assuredly through intuition — the cause of my discom- 
fiture, he hugged me yet closer to his breast, saying: " Never 
mind. Sweetie; you shall always be my girl." 

And there, reader, you have my earliest recollection of my 
father. 



OLD NAVAL DAYS 



CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 

To the indifferent orthography of former days, as well as to 
the destruction, during the Revolutionary period, of the records 
of Goochland County, Virginia, may be attributed, at least in 
part, the difficulties encountered in attempting to obtain authentic 
information concerning the Radford ancestry. 

Once indeed I heard my father say that he believed his great- 
grandfather was the first member of our family to come to this 
country; but, while that may have been the case, a study of the 
annals of Henrico Parish, Virginia, shows that the name was one 
well known there many years before that time. 

Old records mention three youths of the name of Radford, of 
ages varying from sixteen to twenty years, who left England in 
the year 1635 to seek their fortunes in the Western world. Of 
these three but one came to Virginia, the others going respectively 
to ^' ye Bermudos," and to the island of St. Christopher in the 
Lesser Antilles. He who came to Virginia was one Francis Rat- 
ford, who ^' embarqued in the Primrose, July 27th, 1635, age 20." 

The Christian name " Francis " we find recurring through suc- 
ceeding generations, while the family name is mentioned indif- 
ferently as Ratford, Redford, or Radford. 

In a memorial volume of genealogy entitled: " The Cabells 

X 



2 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

and their Kin," we read under the heading: *' Redford (Rad- 
ford)" : 

"In 1726 Dr. William Cabell, in St. James Parish, Henrico, 
was Under Sheriff to Captain John Redford, who was High 
Sheriff of Henrico." 

This same Captain John Redford appears upon the register of 
" Curie's Church " as Vestryman from 1730 until 1752, in which 
latter year " Mr. Samuel Duval was elected Vestryman in room of 
John Redford, deceased." 

Captain John Redford left a numerous family, and the Vestry 
Book of St. James' Parish, Goochland County, bears upon its 
pages for the year 1771 the family name of Redford which, in 
connection with the same baptismal names, becomes in 1775 
Radford. 

The foregoing explains — in the United States War Depart- 
ment's record of the services of Sergeant William Radford of the 
Continental Army (my father's grandfather) — the interpolation 
of the words: " borne also as Redford." 

While in my mind there exists no doubt as to the above men- 
tioned Sergeant William Radford's being a grandson of Captain 
John — though from which of the latter 's five sons, Francis, John, 
William, Milner or Edward he was descended it would be im- 
possible to say — still, because of there being no documentary evi- 
dence we will simply dismiss the question and take up the history 
of the Radford ancestry from the point where we find definite 
data. 

My father's grandfather, William Radford ist, was born in 
Goochland County, Virginia, in the year 1759, the only son of a 
widow of Tory proclivities. While visiting with his mother, dur- 
ing the summer of 1776, at the home of the Geddes Winstons' in 
Hanover County, this lad of seventeen went with a numerous 
party to hear a patriotic address delivered by the recently elected 



INTRODUCTION 3 

Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Patrick Henry. So 
carried away were his hearers by the eloquence of this orator, 
whom Eckenrode describes as " the first great Representative of 
the American Democracy and still its most splendid and magnetic 
Personality," that a company was then and there formed, which 
young Radford joined in direct opposition to his mother's will, nor 
could any subsequent pleading on her part induce him to recon- 
sider his decision. 

Mr. Charles Dabney, a Hanover man, speaks in a letter of 
that period of " The Independent Company of Hanover," formed 
at '* Merry Oaks," a tavern in the neighborhood of Hanover 
Court House, where Patrick Henry " in a very animated speech 
pointed out the necessity of our having recourse to arms 
in defense of our rights, and recommended in strong terms 
that we should immediately form ourselves into a volunteer 
company." 

In the records of the U. S. War Department, to which refer- 
ence has already been made, we read: " One William Radford 
(borne also as Redford) served as Sergeant in Captain Holmon 
Mennis's Company, ist Virginia Regiment, Commanded by 
Colonel Burgess Ball, Revolutionary War. He enlisted August 
4th, 1776, to serve during the war, and his name appears on the 
rolls for the period from June, 1777, to November, 1779." 

The date of August 4, 1776, evidently refers to that of the 
formation of this volunteer company, and that of June, 1777, to 
the time of his transference to the ist Virginia Regiment of the 
Continental Army. 

We have no further record of his service, beyond that of a 
paper received from the Virginia State Library which certifies 
" that William Radford enlisted in the ist Va. Contl Regm't, in 
the year 1777, that he re-enlisted for the war and served as 
Serg't and Serg't Maj'r till the day of Buford's defeat, when he 



4 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

was wounded and died of his wounds while in the service of the 
United States. 

(signed) Ballard Smith, late Lt. ist, Va. Regm't, 

21 Sept. 1787." 

Despite the apparent finality of this statement everything 
points to the fact that the above mentioned paper relates to our 
ancestor, with, however, the essential difference that instead of 
" dying of his wounds " he was made a prisoner and sent with 
other captives to England. For similar cases we have but to 
glance at the records of the recent war, where numbers reported 
as dead have since returned safely to their homes. 

In his *' History of the American Revolution," Fiske writes: 
" Charleston having surrendered " — in May, 1780, — " to an over- 
whelming superiority of British force, Clinton sent expeditions to 
seize other strategic points in the interior of South Carolina. A 
regiment of the Virginia line, under Colonel Buford, that had been 
hastening to the relief of the beleaguered city turned back upon 
hearing of its fall and retreated northward." But Tarleton — 
" England's hunting leopard," — was too swift for them, and 
" overtaking Buford at Waxhaws, near the North Carolina border, 
he there cut the Virginia force to pieces, slaying 113, and cap- 
turing the rest. Not a vestige of an American army was left in 
all South Carolina." 

Fiske furthermore quotes an item from Tarleton's report of 
this engagement which is not without interest in connection with 
our subject. 

" In it," writes the historian, " he (Tarleton) represents that 
his advance guard overtook and charged a Sergeant and four of 
Buford's cavalary in rear of their infantry and took them 
prisoners." 

That battle, as the report shows, was a terrible massacre, and 



INTRODUCTION 5 

what more natural than that errors should have occurred in the 
lists of those killed or taken prisoners. It must furthermore be 
borne in mind that Lieut. Ballard Smith's report was written 
seven years after the battle, and that memory oft-times plays us 
treacherous tricks. 

Certain it is that Sergeant William Radford was made prisoner 
by Banastre Tarleton, and sent with other prisoners to England, 
where they were confined, according to family tradition, in the 
Tower of London. After a long imprisonment Radford, together 
with a comrade by the name of Floyd, managed to escape, and 
crossing the Channel, the two young men presented themselves to 
their country's great friend and ally, General La Fayette, who, 
" treated them with the utmost hospitality, and furnished them 
with ample funds to enable them to return to Virginia." ^ 

While in Paris William Radford was presented by General 
La Fayette to Queen Marie Antoinette, and there are in the 
family a brace of pistols and a pair of golden buckles said to 
have been received by him as presents from this gracious and 
unhappy Queen, whose ever fervent admirer he proved himself by 
giving her name to one of his own daughters (Marie Antoinette 
Radford — Mrs. Henry Edmundson), which name is perpetuated 
in that branch of the family to the present day. 

Returning to Virginia, Radford found that his mother had mar- 
ried a Colonel Prather, and had gone with him to the West, and, 
" despite diligent inquiry " he was never able to learn anything 
further about her. While such a thing appears incredible to- 
day, all family records testify as to the accuracy of this statement. 
It must furthermore be remembered that Sergeant Radford had 
been officially reported as killed in the battle with Tarleton's 
forces, and this report, had she seen it, would have definitely 
eliminated from his mother's mind all hope of his possible return. 

1 George Wythe Munford: "The Two Parsons," a family record. 



6 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

In his distress he bethought him of his mother's friend Mrs. 
Winston, and going to Laurel Grove, the Winstons' beautiful home 
in Hanover County, he, although unable to obtain tidings of 
her whom he sought, met there, and shortly afterward married, 
Rebecca, eldest daughter of the household. 

" Within the first quarter of the century ,^^ writes the his- 
torian William Wirt Henry, " three brothers of the ancient and 
honorable family of Winston, of Yorkshire, England, emigrated 
from Wales to the Colony of Virginia. They v/ere named William, 
Isaac, and James, and from them have descended a numerous 
posterity, which has embraced many of the most distinguished 
of American citizens." 

William, or William Essex, to give his full name, married Sarah 
Geddes, and it was their son, Geddes Winston, w^ho was the owner 
of Laurel Grove, where he lived with his family. 

Governor Henry's mother was Sarah, daughter of Isaac Win- 
ston, who married first Colonel John Syme, and after his death 
John Henry, father of Patrick. Geddes Winston and Sarah 
Winston Henry were consequently first cousins. 

William Radford and his young wife settled in Richmond, where 
they '' for some time resided in a large frame building, with a two- 
story portico in front, which then stood on the corner of Grace 
and First streets." 

Amongst other activities Mr. Radford "became joint owner 
with his brother-in-law, Mr. Thomas Rutherford, of the Albion 
Mills in Richmond." 

That William Radford was a member of the Episcopal Church 
is shown by an old prayer book still owned by the family, bear- 
ing his name with the years of his birth and marriage and the 
date of his death. On April 4, 1803, after twenty happy married 
years, he departed this life, leaving his wife comfortably pro- 




0^ 




IXTRODUCTIOX 7 

\ided for as to fortune, and with six children, one of whom was 
my grandfather, John Radford. 

The other children of William and Rebecca Radford were: 
Carlton, who moved to Kentucky, where he and his family were 
lost sight of; William II, born ^May 27, 1787, a prominent citizen 
of Bedford County and president of a bank in Ljmchburg; (it 
was for his branch of the family that the town of Radford, Va., 
was named) ; Mary (Mrs. John Preston) ; Sarah (^Irs. Wm. 
rvlunford); and Marie -\ntoinette (Mrs. Edmundson), born in 
1793, ^^ youngest of the family. 

Rebecca Radford outlived her husband by seventeen years; 
and Colonel Wythe ^^lunford, her grandson, who remembered his 
grandmother perfectly, said of her: " She had a wonderful talent 
for description and anecdote, and there were few children she 
could not attract by telling them incidents of the Revolutionary 
V^'ar." 

On December 23, 1806, John Radford (son of William and 
Rebecca), then twenty-one years of age, married Harriet Ken- 
nerly, a bride of eighteen, at the hom.e of her uncle. Colonel 
George Hancock, at Fincastle, Va.; and by the samie ceremony 
that united this young couple Colonel Hancock's eldest daughter, 
^lary, became the wife of John Caswell Griffin, of Fincastle. 

Samuel Kennerly, father of Harriet, came of a family claim- 
ing descent from one James Kennerly who was knighted on the 
battlefield of Falkirk, in 1298. Responding inmiediately to the 
call for volunteers at the outbreak of the Revolutionary- War, 
he had served in the Cherokee Expedition, and was present at 
the battle of Guilford, March 15, 1781, where, as a War De- 
partment record tells us, he was wounded in the head. He was 
promoted for rescuing a regimental flag at the battle of the Cow- 
pens, which flag was in the family's possession until 1829 when 



8 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

the house in Fincastle was destroyed by fire, and this, with other 
valuable relics, was lost. 

Samuel Kennerly's wife was Mary Hancock, sister of the 
Colonel. The Hancocks were amongst the founders of the Colony 
of Virginia; the first William Hancock came over with Captain 
John Smith, " in search of Forrest for his buildings of ships," and 
was " massacred by ye salvages at Thorpes' House, Berkeley 
Hundred." 

In 1630, Augustin, son and heir of William, came to Virginia 
to claim his father's estate, and from him, as is shown by the 
Hancock family Bible, is descended the Virginia family of that 
name. 

Harriet's uncle, George Hancock, served through the Revolu- 
tionary War, and, being on Pulaski's staff, the young Colonel 
received the body of the illustrious Pole as he fell at the siege of 
Savannah. The war ended, George Hancock studied law, mar- 
ried Margaret Strother, niece of Samuel Kennerly, and settled at 
Fincastle. He attained great distinction as a lawyer, and 
served under General George Washington's administration as 
member of Congress from Virginia. 

Harriet Kennerly, born July 25, 1788, was but a child when 
her mother died, and from that time she became a member of 
her uncle's household, growing up as one of his family, but be- 
cause of this suffering no estrangement from her father or her 
brothers George and James. To her cousin Julia Hancock, who 
was one year younger than herself, Harriet was devotedly at- 
tached, this attachment, which was reciprocal, remaining un- 
broken throughout their lives. 

John and Harriet Radford settled in Fincastle, Va., and there 
on September 9, 1809, William Radford, the subject of these 
records, was born. 

Of his earliest years we have no account, and only know that 



INTRODUCTION 9 

when he was but two years old his parents moved to !Maysville, 
Ky., where, on March 5, 1812, a daughter, Mary Preston, 
was born. Four years later — on June 6, 181 6, — another son, 
John Desborough, was added to the family, and within a year 
after that event John Radford — then but thirty-one years of age — 
was killed in a hunting accident. Having shot a wild boar, 
he was bending, knife in hand, to despatch his prey, when the 
beast, rallying unexpectedly, made a last desperate lunge and 
gored his would-be captor in a vital spot. 

Left a widow with three children, of whom William the eldest 
was only in his eighth year, Harriet determined she would no 
longer remain in Maysville; nor was she long in coming to a 
decision as to her destination. Her brother James was then 
living in St. Louis, where was also her beloved cousin Julia, 
who, one year after her own marriage, had become the wife of 
General William Clark, then Territorial Governor of Missouri, 
and what more natural than that her thoughts should turn to 
them? Her father, having remarried, had no need of her, there- 
fore, with the briefest possible delay, she set forth upon that 
momentous journey which was to take her forever from the spot 
where she had spent the few happy years that had met with so 
tragic a termination. 



CHAPTER 11 
EARLY DAYS IN ST. LOUIS 

It was a stirring time for a wide-awake boy of William Rad- 
ford's age to arrive in this great frontier town and to find 
himself plunged, as it were, into the very heart of its teeming 
activities. 

Harriet Radford and her children made their home with her 
brother James Kennerly, who was then private secretary to Gov- 
ernor Clark. Whether they arrived in time for his wedding we do 
not know, but on June loth, of that year, 1817, James Kennerly 
married filise Marie Saugrain, daughter of a distinguished 
French scientist, who was the first permanent physician to settle 
In St. Louis. He it was who had furnished Captains Lewis and 
Clark with thermometers, scientific apparatus and medicines, as 
well as with the first known sulphur matches, which proved so 
valuable an asset upon their memorable journey. The famous 
transcontinental expedition of Captains Lewis and Clark left 
Pittsburg in the autumn of 1803 ; wintered at River Dubois, oppo- 
site the mouth of the Missouri, during the winter of 1803-04; 
started up the Missouri in May, 1804; wintered in 1804-05 at 
Fort Mandan, on the Missouri; reached the Pacific Ocean, by 
way of Columbia River, in November following; spent the winter 
of 1805-06 at Fort Clatsop, near the mouth of the Columbia; 
and returning reached St. Louis September 23, 1806. 

It was during the final days of one of the greatest Indian coun- 
cils ever held in the Mississippi Valley that Mrs. Radford and her 



EARLY DAYS IN ST. LOUIS ii 

children reached St. Louis. This council, which had been called 
together by Governor Clark for the purpose of acquainting the 
Indian chiefs with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Decem- 
ber, 1 8 14, and the consequent cessation of hostilities between the 
United States and Great Britain, lasted three years. 

In summoning together the tribes for this important occasion 
James Kennerly had played no insignificant role, as he had 
volunteered — when the most intrepid of the scouts faltered — 
for the hazardous duty of bearing the Governor's message to the 
hostile Sioux and Chippewas. At the risk of his life the faithful 
secretary went up the Mississippi to bring in the absent tribes, 
saying grimly upon his return: " The Chippewas would have mur- 
dered me but for the timely arrival of the Sioux." 

Deputations to the number of two thousand came down the 
river in barges to make treaties and settle troubles arising out of 
the war of 18 12. The streets of St. Louis swarmed with red 
warriors, making the town resplendent with life and color as 
they moved with stately stride to and from the Government 
House. " The Chiefs brought with them their squaws and chil- 
dren; Sioux from the Lakes, in canoes of white birch, light and 
bounding as cork; Sioux of the Missouri in clumsy pirogues; 
Mandans in skin coracles, barges, dug-outs, and cinnamon-brown 
fleets of last year's bark." ^ 

" About the first of July," writes Mrs. Dye, " Governor Clark 
of Missouri, Governor Edwards of Illinois, and Auguste Chou- 
teau of St. Louis opened the Council — all in queues, high col- 
lared coats, and ruffled shirts, facing each other and the 
chiefs." 

In front of their tents sat the tawny warriors, listening with 
dignified attention to the interpretation of each sentence. 

" The long and bloody war is over. The British have gone 

' Mrs. E. E. Dye, " The Conquest." 



12 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

back over the Big Water," said Governor Clark, " and now 
we have sent for you, my brothers, to conclude a treaty of 
peace." 

That first summer and the next, and yet again the next, were 
spent in making treaties, until at last there was peace along the 
border and all the haughty chiefs had signed. And it was during 
the final days of this greatest of Indian Councils that William 
Radford made his first acquaintance with St. Louis. Many happy 
hours of his boyhood days must have been spent in the Govern- 
ment House, which was then the Rene Kiersereau cottage on the 
Rue Royale, of which Mrs. Dye says: ''The old French house 
of Rene Kiersereau dated back to the beginning of St. Louis. 
Built of heavy timbers and plastered with rubble and mortar, it 
bade fair still to withstand the wear and tear of generations. 
With a long low porch in front and rear, and a fence of cedar 
pickets like a miniature stockade, it differed in no respect from 
the other modest cottages of St. Louis. Back of the house rushed 
the river; before it, locusts and lightning bugs flitted in the sum- 
mer garden. Beside the Kiersereau house Clark had his Indian 
office in the small stone store of Alexis Marie." 

Here, then, it was that William Radford played in his youth 
with his cousin Meriwether Lewis Clark, born some months 
earlier but in the same year. It is easy to picture to oneself the 
eager interest these two venturesome boys must have taken in 
all the daily happenings of the time. A wonderful event, during 
that summer of 1817, was the arrival of tlie first steamboat at 
St. Louis. To greet it the entire population flocked to the river 
brink, and the Indians, alarmed lest it should climb the bank 
and pursue them, rushed pellmell into Clark's Council House 
to implore protection from the monster. 

Young Radford had ample opportunity, during those early 
years, to become well acquainted with the aborigines, whose visits 



EARLY DAYS IN ST. LOUIS 13 

to St. Louis in no wise ceased with the closing of the Council. 
As regularly as the coming of spring friendly Indians would 
appear and settle themselves around the lake at '' Maracasta/' 
Governor Clark's farm west of St. Louis, until the grounds would 
be fairly covered with wigwams. Furthermore, James Kennerly,, 
(who, in addition to his other duties had been appointed Indian 
Deputy), kept open house for the chiefs at Cote Plaquemine 
(Persimmon Hill), his country home, which was also, as has been 
said, the home of Harriet Radford and her children. 

To those early associations William Radford's life-long fond- 
ness for hunting was undoubtedy due, as well as his more than 
ordinary skill with the rifle and shot-gun. One animal there was, 
however, which in later years, he invariably declined to shoot, and 
that was a deer, giving as a reason that having, when a young 
man, shot one of these lordly denizens of the wilds, he had been 
met, in stooping to give the animal its coup-de-grace, by so 
humanly imploring a glance that he never had the heart to kill 
another. 

"In 18 1 8 Governor Clark built an imposing residence with a 
large hall which for many years was used as a Council Room for 
Indian Treaty Conventions, and as a Museum of Indian curi- 
osities. Here were Indian dresses decorated with feathers; 
weapons, such as bows and arrows; battle clubs and stone axes; 
birch bark canoes suspended from the ceiling; skins of animals; 
the bones of a mastodon and other interesting specimens and 
relics. This hall was also the scene of numerous banquets, pa- 
triotic celebrations and other popular gatherings, thus largely 
entering into the daily life of St. Louis three quarters of a cen- 
tury ago. . . . The General was also prominent in the Indian 
fur trade of the great region whose gates Lewis and himself 
had opened to commerce. He was one of those who helped to 
establish Christ Church in St. Louis, thus becoming one of the 



14 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

founders of the Protestant Episcopal Communion west of the 
Mississippi.'* ^ 

In this house William Radford spent many of his early days 
in St. Louis and it later became his home. Many a time have I 
heard my father speak of that great Council Hall and of the 
stirring scenes he had witnessed there, as the Indians came to 
Governor Clark for the settlement of every difficulty, and to them 
his word was law. 

There was one story which my father always enjoyed telling. 
After he had grown to manhood, being present one day in the 
Council Hall during one of these stately gatherings, he beheld 
an officer of the United States Army step up to an imposing 
chief, and heard him (evidently desirous of making friendly 
advances) say: "We should be friends, for I also have Indian 
blood in my veins." 

Calmly the chief scrutinized the speaker, and then drawing 
himself haughtily aloof and pointing to the latter's curly ebon 
locks, he said gravely: 

"No Indian— NIG! " 

When, as a young girl, I was visiting at the old Clark place on 
the outskirts of St. Louis, then the property of my uncle Mr. 
Jefferson Clark, my uncle in speaking to me of what a wonderful 
shot my father was, told me that he himself, when a lad, had one 
day done something in that line which he considered very credit- 
able, but upon appealing for commendation to an old family 
servant had been able to elicit from him only the words : " 'Tain't 
bad, IMar'sr Jeff, but you'll never shoot like Mar'sr William." 

In the spring of 1819 there came from Paris to St. Louis a 

1 Extract from address of Prof. Reuben G. Thwaites, secretary of 
the Historical Society of Wisconsin, and editor of the Lewis and 
Clark journals, at the unveiling of the Memorial Tablet which marks 
the spot where stood the former residence of Governor Clark, at 
Broadway and Olive Street. This ceremony took place on September 
23, 1906, the one hundredth anniversary of the return of the expedition. 



EARLY DAYS IN ST. LOUIS 15 

young American artist, one Chester Harding, who painted many- 
portraits there. 

Among his sitters were Governor Clark and his wife Julia, as 
also Harriet Radford, and those three portraits are in the pos- 
session of the family today. 

Hardly were these portraits completed, however, before Julia 
was taken ill, and in accordance with the advice of their physi- 
cian. Governor Clark took his wife and their three boys, Meri- 
wether Lewis, George Rogers (named for Governor Clark's dis- 
tinguished brother), and Julius, to Fotheringay, the beautiful 
home built by Colonel Hancock in the mountains of Virginia 
shortly after Julia's marriage. There for a time Mrs. Clark 
appeared to rally, so much so indeed that when, the succeed- 
ing winter, important matters demanded Governor Clark's pres- 
ence in St. Louis, he left her with no apprehension of 
danger. 

Hardly, however, had he reached his journey's end before a 
swift messenger came bearing the dread tidings that his wife had 
been taken from this world. Returning immediately to Foth- 
eringay he there attended a double funeral, Colonel Hancock 
having survived his daughter but a few days. 

High on the hillside overlooking the Happy Valley, where flow 
the head waters of the Roanoke, in the white mausoleum he had 
himself caused to be excavated from the solid rock, the earthly 
remains of Col. George Hancock and his daughter Julia were 
laid, and to this day the darkies of that region say with trem- 
bling: " De Cunnel, he set up dah in a stone chair so's he cud 
look down de valley and see his slaves at deir work." 

When General Clark returned with his three little boys to St. 
Louis, Missouri had become a State, a new governor had been 
elected, and the seat of government had been transferred to St. 
Charles. But although governors came and governors went, the 



i6 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

officer who had held the position through seven Territorial years 
was always addressed as Governor Clark- 
Family tradition has it that Julia, upon realizing the serious 
character of her illness, had suggested to General Clark that, 
should he think of remarrying he would '' bear in mind " her 
cousin Harriet. 

Be that as it may, the fact is that a little over one year after 
Julia's death, in the autumn of 182 1, — to quote Mrs. Dye — " the 
most noted citizen of St. Louis married the handsome widow 
Radford." Again, in speaking of this event, the author of " The 
Conquest " writes that the " vivacious Creole girls gossiping over 
their tea in their wide verandas exclaimed, ' From Philadelphia 
she haf a wedding trousseau/ and yet again, ^ she haf de majesty 
look, like one queen.' " 

From the home of her brother, James Kennerly, taking her 
two younger children, Mary and John, with her, went Harriet 
to take her place as the wife of the ex-Governor, then Superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs, " whose word was Indian law from the 
Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean." 

And what of Harriet's twelve year old son William at that 
time? Just why he should have elected to act as he did upon 
the occasion of his mother's marriage to General Clark has al- 
ways remained a mystery, but, for whatever cause it may have 
been, he stoutly refused to leave his uncle's home for that of his 
stepfather, and so determined was he about the matter that his 
mother was obliged to follow the one course remaining open 
under the circumstances, and that was, to send him away to 
boarding-school. 

Thus, by ways devious and unlooked-for, does an All-Wise 
Providence lead man to the fulfilling of his destiny. 



CHAPTER III 
LA FAYETTE 

On the 7th of September, 1825, the U. S. frigate Brandywine 
lay at anchor at the mouth of the Potomac River. 

Built at the Washington Navy Yard for the special service of 
bearing General La Fayette and his suite on their return journey 
to France, the Brandywine had been launched on June i6th, and 
Commodore Morris says in his autobiography that the " officers 
had been selected so that there should be at least one from each 
state, and when practicable, descendants of persons distinguished 
in the Revolution." 

She was named for Brandywine Creek, Delaware, the scene 
of the battle in which La Fayette was wounded on September 
II, 1777. 

" It is customary," wrote President Adams to La Fayette, " to 
designate our frigates by the names of the rivers of the United 
States; to conform to this custom, and make it accord with the 
desire we have to perpetuate a name that recalls that glorious 
event of our revolutionary war, in which you sealed with your 
blood your devotion to our principles, we have given the name 
of Brandywine to the new frigate to which we confide the honor- 
able mission of returning you to the wishes of your country and 
family. The command of the Brandywijte will be intrusted to one 
of the most distinguished officers of our Navy, Captain Charles 
Morris, who has orders to land you under the protection of our 
flag, in whatever European port you please to designate." 

In " The Port- Folio," for September, 1824, we find the fol- 
lowing: 

17 



1 8 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

*' It having been understood that General de la Fayette in- 
tended to visit this country, Congress, at the last session, resolved 
that a national vessel should be despatched for the purpose of 
conveying him to our shores. He declined that honor, but took 
his passage in the ship Cadmus, for New York, where he ar- 
rived on the 1 6th of August. 

" The Committee of arrangement of the Corporation, officers 
of the United States Army and Navy, officers of the Militia hold- 
ing the rank of Major and Brigadier Generals, the President of 
the Chamber of Commerce, and a committee from the society of 
the Cincinnati at ii o'clock a.m. proceeded to Staten Island, for 
the purpose of accompanying him to the city. The steamboat 
Chancellor Livingston was employed for the purpose of convey- 
ing him from Staten Island to the battery, and was accompanied 
by the Cadmus highly dressed and decorated with colors, and 
towed by steamboats; and the steamship Robert Fulton, the 
steamboats Connecticut, Oliver Ellsworth, Bellona and Nautilus, 
all richly and elegantly dressed in colors and crowded with pas- 
sengers desirous of witnessing the ceremony. 

" The ceremonies at the island having been finished, the Gen- 
eral was received on board, and the gay and impressive proces- 
sion returned to the city. He was landed at the battery a little 
before two o'clock, having been saluted as he passed up the bay 
by a discharge from the ship Importer, and from Governor's 
Island, and was received amidst the shouts of an immense con- 
course of people. 

" From the battery he proceeded in an open carriage up Broad- 
way to the city hall, escorted by the military, under the command 
of Major General Morton, where he was received by the Common 
Council, and an address was made by the Mayor, to which the 
General made an appropriate answer. 

" After the adjournment of the Common Council, he received 



LA FAYETTE 19 

the marching salute in front of the city hall, and again entered 
the hall accompanied by his son and suite, and in the Governor's 
room received the society of the Cincinnati, composed of his 
surviving brothers and companions in the field, a small number 
of whom still remain to congratulate their fellow soldier. Here 
also he was met by the officers of the Army and Navy, and many 
citizens and strangers. From the hall he was accompanied by 
the Common Council and many distinguished persons to the city 
hotel to dine, escorted by the military. 

" The whole exhibition, from the landing at the battery to the 
time of the dispersion of the people at the park, was in a high 
degree interesting and gratifying. The numbers collected were 
perhaps unequaled on any former festive occasion. The bells 
of the different churches rang a merry peal. The houses through 
Broadway were filled with spectators of the first respectability 
and the street was crowded with people. 

" The day was singularly fine for the occasion. The water 
scene exceeded in splendor and effect anything of the kind that 
has ever been exhibited here. The appearance of the military was 
highly creditable in equipment, movements and discipline; and 
we have not a doubt their appearance, when contrasted by his 
recollection with the suffering troops of the War of Inde- 
pendence, must have made a deep impression on the General's 
mind. 

" In the evening all the public places were brilliantly illumi- 
nated, rockets were thrown up, and the streets were thronged 
to a late hour. Castle Garden, particularly, where General La 
Fayette landed, and where he remained for some time on his 
first reaching the city, was brilliantly illuminated last evening, 
and crowded with beauty and fashion. 

" Nearly all business was suspended yesterday, and the stores 
of every description were closed at an early hour in the forenoon. 



20 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Indeed scarcely a person could be seen in any of the streets 
except those through which General La Fayette was to pass. 

" The chivalrous generosity with which La Fayette espoused 
our uncertain fortunes excited not less admiration than gratitude, 
and every American has contemplated his subsequent career with 
lively sympathy. 

" During his captivity in the Austrian and Prussian dungeons 
he was supplied with money through our Minister in London, by 
order of President Washington, who also sent one of the brothers 
of Chief Justice Marshall to the Continent of Europe to solicit 
his liberation, with an urgent letter, written by himself as an indi- 
vidual. 

" He was well received at the Austrian Court, and compli- 
mented as a fine young American, whilst the greatest veneration 
was expressed for General Washington. But whilst they were 
amusing Mr. Marshall with their courtesies, they transferred 
Ihe illustrious prisoner to the Prussians, and then expressed their 
regret that they could not gratify the wishes of his great friend. 

" Since the acquisition of Louisiana, Congress passed a law 
granting a bounty in lands to General La Fayette. Mr. Madison, 
having been appointed his agent, the location was made, con- 
sistently with the terms of the law, upon some vacant lands in 
the Island of New Orleans, of great value. These, we believe, he 
afterwards sold." 

General La Fayette, accompanied by his son, George Wash- 
ington La Fayette, and his secretary, A. Levasseur, had em- 
barked at Havre, on July 13, 1824, for his last visit to the United 
States, which proved to be a triumphal procession, from the day 
of his arrival in New York until that of his departure. 

" When it was rumored," writes Levasseur in his diary, " that 
the Brandywine was destined to conduct La Fayette back to 
France, all those parents who intended their children for the 



LA FAYETTE 21 

Navy were ambitious to obtain them a berth on board the frigate, 
and the President found himself beset with petitions from all parts 
of the Union. Not being able to satisfy all, but at the same 
time wishing to amalgamate as much as possible private interests 
with public good, he decided that each state should be represented 
by a midshipman, and hence the Brandywine had on board 24, 
instead of 8 or 10, as is usual in vessels of her size." 

Among this representative group of midshipmen was William 
Radford, whom we left at the age of twelve about starting for 
boarding-school. 

According to his own statement the school to which he was sent 
was at Perth Amboy, N. J., and there this inland-bred lad 
first beheld the sea. The ships passing to and fro were to him a 
source of never-ending wonder, and the questions : " Where do 
they come from? " and " Where are they going? " forced them- 
selves with deep and ever deeper tenacity upon his mind, until 
finally the desire to ascertain for himself the answers to these 
queries became so all-absorbing that he wrote to his stepfather, 
General Clark, with whom he was then on the best of terms, 
asking that he obtain for him an appointment in the Navy. 

A personal letter from General Clark to President Adams 
brought about the desired result, and William Radford received 
his appointment as midshipman in the U. S. Navy, the said 
appointment dating from March i, 1825. Although born in Vir- 
ginia he is listed as entering from Missouri, which state was then 
his home. (That being before the days of the Naval Academy 
at Annapolis these embryo officers did all their studying on 
shipboard.) 

Although appointed on March ist, official records show that 
William Radford was not assigned to any duty until five months 
after that date, when he reported on August i, 1825, at the 
Washington Navy Yard, for duty on the Brandywine. As illus- 



22 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

trative of the remarkable change of conditions that may occur in 
our country during a lifetime, it is of interest that when young 
Radford left St. Louis to join his ship he found he was the only 
passenger in the weekly stage starting East from that city. 

As his official duty only commenced in August, there is every 
reason to conclude that he was at home during the visit which 
General La Fayette made in the month of April of that year 
to St. Louis, and that he had the honor of being presented to 
the distinguished Frenchman during the hours the latter spent 
beneath General Clark's roof. Referring to Levasseur's account 
of that visit, we read: " We went to see the collection of Indian 
curiosities made by Governor Clark, which is the most complete 
that is to be found. We visited it with the greater pleasure from 
its being shown us bj^ Mr. Clark, who had himself collected all the 
objects which compose it, while exploring the distant Western 
regions with Captain Lewis. 

" General Clark has visited, near the sources of the Missouri 
and Mississippi, Indian tribes which, previous to his visit, had 
never seen a white man, but among whom he nevertheless dis- 
covered traces of an ancient people more civilized than them- 
selves. Thus, for example, he brought away with him a whip 
which the riders of these tribes do not imderstand the mode of 
using on their horses . . . and which is actually arranged like 
the knout of the Cossacks. He presented General La Fayette 
with a garment bearing a striking resemblance to a Russian riding 
coat. It is made of buffalo skin prepared so as to retain all its 
pliancy, as if dressed by the most skilful turner. From these 
and some other facts Mr. Clark and Captain Lewis, his com- 
panion, concluded that there formerly existed, near the Pole, a 
communication between Asia and America. We could have re- 
mained a considerable longer time in Governor Clark's Museum 
listening to the interesting accounts which he was pleased to 




HARRIET KENNERLY RADFORD CLARK 



LA FAYETTE 23 

give us relative to his great journey, but were informed that 
the hour for dinner had arrived, and we went to the house 
of iVIr. Pierre Chouteau," whose dinner guests they were that 
day. 

Not to be outdone in generosity, La Fayette presented General 
Clark with the mess chest he had used throughout the Revolu- 
tionary War, and "placed upon his finger a ring of his hair." 
The mess chest was a large leather case containing a silver 
camp service, spoons, forks, etc., and it is in the Clark Museum 
in St. Louis. 

A firm friendship was established between the eminent visitor 
and General Clark during that brief visit to St. Louis, which is 
witnessed to by the fact that they corresponded throughout the 
remaining years of La Fayette's life, which came to a close some 
four years before that of the General. 

A letter from General La Fayette to Governor Clark, dated 
February i, 1830, is not without its humorous side, and although 
of later date, an extract from it may find a place here. 

After introducing the bearer, a citizen of Bordeaux, to General 
Clark, the letter reads: " The Grisly Bear you had the goodness 
to send me has been the more admired on this side of the Atlantic 
as it was the first Animal of the kind, living or dead, that had 
ever made its appearance in Europe. I was inclined to make a 
pet of him, as he was then very gentle, but it was thought wiser to 
put him under the care of the Board of Professors at the Jardin 
des Plantes the first European Museum of Natural Philosophy. 
There he was received with much gratitude to you, the principal 
donator, and to me. Nor need I add that his large size and 
ferocious temper have since been developed. 

" I have lately received two Ohio deer, quite tame, and have 
lodged them at La Grange where it is my boast and delight to 
have collected a number of American keepsakes, and particularly 



24 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

a precious Museum where your kind presents are carefully kept 
and greatly admired. 

"While I set the higher value on that part of your travels 
and observations that has been published, I must wish the ma- 
terials that remain in your hands might be also given to the 
public of both Hemispheres. I wish it not only as your friend 
and for the sake of general information, but from the patriotic 
sense I have of the work as being Highly Creditable to the 
Nation. 

"Be pleased to remember me very affectionately to every mem- 
ber of your excellent family and our friends at St. Louis, and 
believe me, most Cordially, 

" Your sincere, obliged friend, 

" Governor Clark. La Fayette." 

General La Fayette having received President J. Q. Adams' 
letter, given on the opening page of this chapter, and finding the 
invitation " too honorable and made with too much delicacy to 
be for an instant refused," hastened to Washington to express 
his gratitude to the President, and " concert with Captain 
Morris the day of sailing, which was settled for the 7th of 
September." 

" On the 6th of September," writes Levasseur, " the anniversary 
of La Fayette's birth, the President gave a grand dinner, to which 
all the public officers and numerous distinguished guests then in 
Washington were invited. . . . Although a large company par- 
took of this dinner, and it was intended to celebrate La Fayette's 
birthday, it was very serious, I may say, almost sad. We were 
all too much preoccupied by the approaching journey to be 
joyous; we already felt, by anticipation, the sorrowfulness of 
separation. 

" Toward the conclusion of the repast, the President, contrary 



LA FAYETTE 25 

to the diplomatic custom which forbids toasts at his table, arose 
and proposed the following: 'To the 22 nd of February and 6th of 
September; birthdays of Washington and La Fayette.' 

" Profoundly affected to find his name thus associated with 
Washington's, the General expressed his thanks to the President, 
and gave this toast: ' To the 4th of July, the birthday of liberty 
in both hemispheres/ 

" The day of our departure," (continues Levasseur), " the 7th 
of September, dawned radiantly. The workshops were deserted, 
the stores left unopened, and the people crowded around the 
President's Mansion, while the Militia was drawn up in line on 
the road along which the Nation's guest was to move on his 
way to the shore. 

'* Accompanied by the Secretaries of State, Treasury and the 
Navy, the General proceeded to the banks of the Potomac where 
the steamboat Mount Vernon was waiting for him. In a few 
hours we reached the Brandywine which was anchored at the 
mouth of the Potomac where she only awaited our arrival to 
set sail. The General was received on board with the greatest 
honors; the yards were manned, the gunners at their posts, and 
the marines drawn up on deck. 

" The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Soutliard, alone went on 
board the Brandywine with the General and his suite, to recom- 
mend him to the care of Commodore Morris in the name of the 
American Nation and its Government. 

" No sooner had the Secretary of the Navy left the Brandywine 
than the Commodore gave orders to weigh anchor, but at that 
moment another steamboat hove in sight making signals that she 
wished to speak with us." 

(This proved to be a boat from Baltimore, bringing a large 
party desirous of seeing General La Fayette once more before his 
departure.) 



26 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" A collation was prepared on board for the numerous guests, 
at which speeches appropriate to the occasion were made; and 
so greatly did the said guests enjoy themselves that their visit 
was prolonged until all thought of sailing for that day had to be 
abandoned. 

^' The next morning we stood down the bay, and to sea with a 
favorable wind." ^ 

A poetic touch is given to their departure by Levasseur who 
writes: "We entered the Chesapeake under full sail, traversing 
tlie center of a brilliant rainbow, one of whose limbs appeared to 
rest on the IMaryland shore and the other on that of Virginia. 
Thus the same sign that appeared in the heavens on the day 
on yAilch. La Fayette landed on American soil also appeared when 
he left it, as if nature had reserved to herself the erection of the 
first and the last of the numerous triumphal arches dedicated to 
him during his extraordinary journey." 

Referring to that earlier occasion of which Levasseur speaks, 
we read in his diary: *' The day of our arrival at Staten Island, 
whilst the General was receiving the congratulations of the people 
from the balcony of the Vice President's house (Vice President 
Tompkins) a rainbow, one of whose limbs enveloped and tinged 
Fort La Fayette with a thousand colors, appeared. The multi- 
tude, struck with the beauty and opportuneness of the circum- 
stance, exclaimed that * Heaven was in unison with America in 
celebrating the happy arrival of the Friend of the Country.' " 

Thus, upon the eve of his sixteenth birthday, did William 
Radford set forth, under this heaven-sent insignia, to ascertain 
whence were coming and whither were going these many fair 
ships with their spreading sails on which so great a portion of 
his eventful life was henceforth to be spent. 

A list of the officers who sailed upon that cruise has been 

^ Commodore IMorris's Autobiography. 



LA FAYETTE 



27 



recently brought to light amongst papers of my father's, and it 
may interest some of their descendants. 



Captain, Charles Morris 
1st Lt. Francis H. Gregory 
2nd Lt. Blanden Dulany 
3rd Lt, Ralph Voorhes 
4th Lt. Thomas Freelon 
5th Lt. Irvine Shubnck 
6th Lt. David G. Farragut 
7th Lt. John Marston 
Purser, Edward N. Cox 



Surgeon, Wm. Birchmore 
Surgeon's JVlate, Wm. Plumstead 
Surgeon's Mate, John Brooke 
SaiHng Master, Elisha Peck ( Com- 
missioned Lieutenant, 1826) 
Captain Marines, Thomas S. Eng- 
lish 
Lieutenant Marines, William A. 
Randolph 



Samuel Barron, Virginia 
Thomas W. Brent, Dist. of Col. 
George M. Bache, Phila., Pa. 
Solomon D. Belton, Georgia 
John B. Cutting, Dist. of Columbia 
John A, Davis, Louisiana 
Ezra T. Doughty, New York 
Charles W. Gay, Massachusetts 
Paul H. Haj'nes, South Carolina 
Henry Hoff, South Carolina 
Harry Ingersoll, Philadelphia, Pa. 
William F. Irving, New York 
Andrew M. Irwin, Pennsylvania 



Midshipmen 



Kmsey Johns, ^Maryland 
Wm. F. Lynch, Virginia 
James L. Lardner. Pennsylvania 
M. F. Maury, Virginia 
James W. Marshall, Kentucky 
Henry Mifflin, Pennsylvania 
Lewis Ogden, New York 
Cary H. Hansford, Virginia 
Wm. S. Ogden, New York 
Richard L. Page. Virginia 
William D. Porter. Dist. of Col. 
Wm. Radford. Missouri 
John W. Willis, Virginia 



Passengers 



General La Fayette 
G. W. La Fayette 
D. McCormick, U. S. N. (Sur- 
geon, J.) 
Lt. Bonneville, U. S. A. 
Capt. Geo, C. Read, U. S. N. 



Lt. Isaac Mayo. U. S. N., Virginia 
Mr. Summerville, U. S. Minister 

to Stockholm 
A. Levasseur, Secretary to Gen- 
eral La Fayette 



This list was sent to Rear Admiral Wm. Radford in tha year 
1886 by Solomon D. Belton, one of the midshipmen who had 
made this cruise sixty-one years earlier, with a letter which will 
be given in its fitting time and place. To this list Belton adds 
a postscript saying: " I have forgotten our Surgeon's name, & 
may be mistaken in the one I give. He was lost on the Hornet in 
the West Indies." 

The first of the adventures with which William Radford was 



28 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

to meet in his sea-faring life was far from being an agreeable 
one, as scarcely had the pilot left before it was discovered that 
the ship was leaking badly, and the precise cause of the leak could 
not be ascertained, because, as Levasseur pathetically remarks: 
" We were experiencing all the agonies of rolling and pitching 
horribly combined." 

For Commodore Morris it was an awkward dilemma. Was it 
his duty to return, or dare he expose General La Fayette and 
others to serious hazard by continuing their journey? La Fayette 
himself settled the question by refusing categorically to return 
except in case of " absolute necessity," and as the leak was under 
control by the pumps and gradually diminished as the planks 
swelled from immersion, they continued on their way. 

A misadventure, heartrending for our young midshipmen, be- 
fell them at the very outset of their journey. A steward, in 
cleaning the uniform of one of the officers, set the bottle of tur- 
pentine he was using for this purpose on the barrel of sugar 
belonging to their mess, and, in a sudden lurch of the ship, the 
bottle upset, emptying its entire contents through a crack into 
the barrel. During all that crossing the boys drank their coffee 
and ate their desserts strongly flavored with turpentine! Small 
wonder was it that in recalling that voyage William Radford 
always said that " the food was very bad." 

The midshipmen on the Brandywine were each and all en- 
thusiastic admirers of General La Fayette, while he himself was 
"deeply gratified "—(we have his secretary's word for it) — 
*' thus to find himself surrounded by these young representatives 
of the Republic he had visited with so much pleasure, not only 
as their presence recalled spots he loved, but also as some of them 
being sons (or grandsons) of old Revolutionary soldiers, gave him 
an opportunity of speaking of his former companions-in-arms ; 
and the young men, on their part, proud of the mission they 



LA FAYETTE 29 

were engaged in, endeavored to render themselves worthy of it by- 
strict attention to study and the performance of their duties." 

The passage was a stormy and most uncomfortable one, not- 
withstanding which, they made excellent time, sighting the 
French coast twenty-four days after leaving the Chesapeake. 

" The morning after our arrival," writes Commodore Morris, 
" the wife and children of George La Fayette, with M. de Las- 
teyrie, son-in-law of La Fayette, and his children, came on board 
to meet the General and his son, and after passing a few hours 
they all returned together to the shore. Before leaving the ship 
the General was entreated to ask for anything he might desire to 
take v/ith him, when he requested the flag of the ship under 
which he had been received on board, and this was immediately 
presented." 

In taking it from the hands of the first lieutenant of the 
ship, Mr. Gregory, General La Fayette asserted with deep emo- 
tion that it should be displayed from the most prominent part of 
his house at La Grange, '^ where it will testify to all who may see 
it the kindness of the American Nation towards its adopted and 
devoted son." 

'' The paternal friendship shown by the General for the mid- 
shipmen during the voyage," says Levasseur, " had so completely 
gained their affection that they could not separate from him 
without shedding tears." I doubt the applicability of this state- 
ment to William Radford, who, whatever may have been his feel- 
ings, was not addicted to outward expressions of emotion. '' They 
begged," pursues the diary, " that he would permit them to offer 
him a durable mark of their filial attachment that would also 
recall to his mind the days passed with them on board the 
Brandywine.'* 

This present, v^hich was received by General La Fayette 
shortly after his arrival at Paris was " a silver Urn of antique 



30 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

form and beautifully engraved. The neck of it is surrounded 
with wine leaves gracefully arranged, and two heads of river- 
gods serve as the handles. The American eagle which is carved 
on one of the sides, grasps in one of his talons a bundle of 
javelins and in the other an olive branch. Acanthus leaves orna- 
ment the base of the vase, the square stand of which, supported 
by four lions' feet, presents on three of its sides an equal number 
of bas-reliefs, representing the Capitol at Washington, the visit 
of La Fayette to the tomb of Washington, and the arrival of the 
Braitdywhte at Havre. On the fourth side is inscribed in relief 
the offering of the Midshipmen of the U. S. frigate Brandywine to 
their paternal friend: 'As a testimony of individual esteem and 
collective admiration, a tribute to the private worth and public 
excellency of General La Fayette.' " 

This magnificent work was executed at Paris under the direc- 
tion of Mr. Barnet, the American Consul. 

A curious feature of old naval life comes down to us in the 
story that Midshipman W^illiam Radford, who had been liberally 
supplied with money before leaving home, found himself, upon 
reaching France, entirely out of pocket, because of having just 
before sailing, loaned the sum total of his capital to the caterer 
of the midshipmen's mess. 

That he had, however, other funds at his command is evi- 
denced by the fact that there is in the possession of my aunt, 
Mrs. Jefferson Kearny Clark, now living in New York, (May, 
1920), a set of dining-room chairs which go by the nam.e of the 
" La Fayette chairs," because of their having been purchased by 
Midshipman Radford for his stepfather General Clark during that 
voyage. 

General La Fayette left the Brandywine under a Major Gen- 
eral's salute, and three hearty cheers from the ship's company; 
and Commodore Morris, the object of whose command had been 



LA FAYETTE 31 

merely to see the General to France, turned the ship over to the 
first lieutenant, Mr. Gregory, and left with La Fayette to become 
his guest at La Grange. 

La Grange-en- Brie, 14 leagues distant from Paris, a chateau 
which La Fayette called " an inheritance from my unhappy 
mother-in-law," — the Duchesse d'Ayen, a victim of the guillo- 
tine, — was the residence selected by the La Fayette family as 
their home in 1800, immediately after the frontiers of France had 
been opened to him by the effacement of his name from the list of 
emigres. La Fayette's joy in finding himself (upon the termina- 
tion of his exile) once more with his family was tempered by the 
receipt of the news of the death of Washington (December 14, 
1799) — who bequeathed to him a pair of pistols, which are rev- 
erently preserved in tlie Museum at La Grange, along with a pair 
of field glasses from the same donor, and a piece of tapestry 
worked by Madam Washington at the age of 70. 

" Among La Fayette's most curious possessions at La Grange is 
a Missouri bear," writes Andre de Maricourt,^ referring to the 
grizzly of whose coming we have already read. 

La Fayette's oldest daughter, Anastasie, married M. de La 
Tour-Maubourg, brother of his favorite aide-de-camp; and Vir- 
ginie, the second, married in 1802, Louis de Lasteyrie, and it is 
their grandson, the Marquis de Lasteyrie, who is today the owner 
of the chateau of La Grange. 

Madame de La Fayette, whose health had been greatly im- 
paired by the years of captivity which she had voluntarily shared 
with her husband in the prison of Olmutz, and the succeeding 
years of exile, was taken from this world on the 24th of Decem- 
ber, 1807, at 48 years of age. La Fayette had the apartment of 
his '' Good Angel," as he called his wife, walled up, and there 
was no portrait to be seen of her in the chateau. One miniature 

1 Revue des Deux Mondes, September, 1919. 



32 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

of her alone La Fayette kept, and this he carried always with 
him, wearing it upon his heart, and by his orders it was laid in 
his coffin when his own last hour came. His son George de 
La Fayette, married, upon his return from America, Mile. Destutt 
de Tracy. 

La Fayette's life at La Grange varied little throughout the 
years. He rose every morning at five o'clock, and dressed with 
great care in his small second-story room, on whose walls hung 
the portraits of his father and of many of his ancestors. A great 
part of the morning was spent in attending to his voluminous 
correspondence, and in strolling about the chateau, which he had 
transformed into a museum of souvenirs. 

Breakfast was at ten o'clock, when they sat down often as 
many as twenty or twenty-five at table. More loquacious than 
in his youth, he enlivened the conversation with gay sallies. 
After breakfast, in the drawing-room, there was a general looking 
over the latest papers, and from twelve o'clock until three, a stroll 
about the farm and grounds. At four o'clock La Fayette retired 
to his study where he was writing his " Memoires." Dinner was 
at six, very simply served, and after that there was music, inter- 
spersed with conversation and various kinds of games, from 
which he often absented himself, returning to his study to work, 
but reappearing again at half-past ten to kiss his children good- 
night. 

It would be impossible to enumerate the guests who visited 
La Grange during the latter years of La Fayette's life, but 
amongst the number came Fenimore Cooper with his family 
" and several Indians." 

La Fayette's return from America on the gth of October, 1825, 
was made the occasion of a veritable ovation. Four thousand 
people took part in the festivities at La Grange, and he was car- 
ried in triumph about the estate. 



LA FAYETTE 33 

La Fayette departed this life in Paris, May 19, 1834, and no 
higher testimony of the regard in which his memory is held in the 
United States could have been given than that contained in 
General Pershing's memorable salutation: " La Fayette, nous 
voila." 

" As the President had told General La Fayette in offering him 
the use of the Brandywine to carry him to France, we had for 
commander one of the most distinguished officers in the American 
Navy," writes Levasseur; and in bidding Commodore Morris 
adieu a short sketch of the life and service of the first com- 
mander under whose orders William Radford sailed will surely not 
be amiss. 

Charles Morris was born at Woodstock, Conn., July 26, 1784, 
and passed the first fifteen years of his life in Connecticut and 
Vermont. He entered the Navy in July, 1799, and the earliest 
achievement which won for him the special notice of his com- 
manders, was during the war with the Barbary States on the occa- 
sion of the recapture and destruction of the American frigate 
Philadelphia J which the corsairs had taken, and were then fitting 
out for sea, with the design of cruising against our commerce. In 
1804 she lay in the harbor of Tripoli, surrounded by Turkish 
gunboats and batteries, yet the daring plan was conceived of run- 
ning into the harbor and destroying the ship and its accomplish- 
ment entrusted to the gallant Decatur, then a lieutenant. Morris 
was one of the five midshipmen selected from the Comtitution, 
and hence one of the brave seventy-four in the ketch Intrepid, 
which, under convoy of the Siren, Commander Stuart, arrived 
before Tripoli in the afternoon of the 9th of February, 1804. Not 
until the i6th, however, were all circumstances favorable for an 
attack, and for this Decatur made his dispositions with admirable 
sagacity. Morris's part was, after the ship should have been 
captured, to go into the cockpit and aft storerooms and set them 



34 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

on fire. So precisely was all the plan carried out that the Intrepid 
was placed completely alongside the Philadelphia before the 
Turks in it raised the cry of " Americanos! " The discipline was 
perfect, and as Decatur gave the order to board Morris sprang 
at the rail and was the first of the Intrepid's band to stand on 
the deck of the Philadelphia. The surprise was complete, and 
the splash of Turk after Turk was heard in the v^rater as the 
enemy made for the shore or for the nearest gunboats. In ten 
minutes Decatur was master of the Philadelphia; in thirty minutes 
the different parties about the ship had effected their purpose — 
the noble frigate was in flames and the party were in their boats. 
Then three rousing cheers proclaimed their victory. Tripoli was 
soon in an uproar. Turkish cannon roared from the gunboats, 
corsairs and batteries. As the flames reached the Philadelphia's 
guns, she too, joined in an answering cannonade, while the gallant 
band, having safely gained the Intrepid, m.errily rowed down the 
harbor. This was one of the most brilliant achievements of our 
Navy. 

Passing over eight years of honorable service we find Lieu- 
tenant Morris, at the outbreak of the war with England, attached, 
in the capacity of executive officer, to the frigate Constitution, 
under command of Captain Hull. In July, 1812, tlie frigate 
sailed from Aimapolis, and on the morning of the 17th, when 
but a few leagues from the coast, she found herself in the pres- 
ence of a fleet of the enemy, comprising a ship of the line, four 
frigates and two smaller vessels, under the command of Com- 
modore Broke. The ocean was nearly calm, and as the morning 
mist rose from it the enemy already made sure of an easy prize. 
But the Constitution — by a feat of seamanship which, for the 
skill with which it was conceived, and the manner in which it was 
executed, has never been paralelled in our naval annals — ef- 
fected her escape from all the enemy's ships, after an incessant 



LA FAYETTE 35 

chase of sixty hours. The whole credit of this successful maneu- 
ver (a combination of towing and warping by means of boats 
and anchors) was ascribed by Captain Hull to Lieutenant Morris, 
who, some years previously, had been stationed on one of our 
frigates in the Mediterranean which frequently visited Malta. 
Her captain would never venture to take her in or out of that 
harbor under canvas, but always had her hedged in and out, to 
the great mortification of the ward-room officers, who felt and 
knew they could maneuver and handle the vessel under canvas 
as well as the British ships, which always came in and went out 
in that mode. Though the British officers would smile at this 
cautious mode of proceeding, they were obliged to admire tiie 
promptness and dexterity with which the thing was done; and it 
was the experience then and thus obtained which enabled Lieu- 
tenant Morris so successfully to elude his pursuers. He fre- 
quently observed in after life that he little thought, when he was 
learning what to him was so mortifying a lesson, he would ever 
have occasion to m.ake such a practical application of it. 

During the same season, while still occupying his post as first 
lieutenant of the Constitution, that ship fell in with the British 
frigate Guerriere, one of the squadron of Commodore Broke. The 
two vessels came for a few minutes into close quarters, and as 
their sides touched each other, Lieutenant Morris with his own 
hands lashed them together. In the fierce fight of musketry and 
short swords that ensued, the gallant lieutenant, at the head of 
his boarders, fell, pierced by a ball that passed through his body, 
just missing the vital organs. The bloody conflict was crowned 
with victory, and Lieutenant Morris, in September, 18 13, was 
promoted for special services over the heads of some of his seniors 
in the Navy to the ranic of Post-Captain, his commission being 
dated from the day of the surrender of the Guerriere. 

After the close of the war Morris was appointed in succession 



36 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

to several important commands, both at sea and on shore; and 
while on the Brazil station he was on intimate terms with the 
British Admiral then in command there, who subsequently stated 
that he considered Commodore Morris had no superior as a naval 
officer in the world, and that he knew more about the British 
Navy than he, the Admiral, knew himself. He was forty-one 
years of age when appointed to the command of the national ship 
that was to bear General La Fayette on his return journey to his 
native land, and higher praise cannot be accorded than is con- 
tained in the statement, that, " Commodore Morris was remark- 
able for the influence he possessed over those under his com- 
mand, and also for the respect they entertained for him." 

The Brandywine^s stay at Havre was a short one, for she 
reached Cowes on October gth, leaving there on the 22nd, under 
comm^and of Lieut. F. H. Gregory, to join Commodore John 
Rodgers' squadron in the Mediterranean. Arriving at Gibraltar 
on November 2nd, she there found assembled the fleet, consist- 
ing of the flagship North Carolina, 74 guns, the frigate Constitu- 
tion, and the sloops Ontario and Erie, and joining them^ became 
from that date a unit of the squadron. 



CHAPTER IV 
UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 

Commodore John Rodgers, then in command of the Medi- 
terranean Squadron, was part and parcel of the old Navy — the 
navy of sailing ships, self-trained officers, and bluff hardy seamen. 

Born in Havre-de-Grace, Maryland, in the year 1773, he, when 
but thirteen years of age, set out on foot for Baltimore, thirty- 
five miles distant, where he joined a merchant ship, the Maryland, 
as apprentice, and before attaining his twentieth year he had ob- 
tained command of a fine vessel, the Jane, engaged in European 
trade. 

After spending eleven years at sea, during which he had risen 
from an apprenticeship before the mast to a captaincy, Rodgers, 
in 1797, left the merchant service. He was then twenty- four, 
and when, in 1798, the first three vessels of a fleet of six, the 
construction of which Congress had authorized, were being offi- 
cered and fitted for sea, John Rodgers was appointed second lieu- 
tenant aboard the Constellation. He was exceedingly fortunate 
in his first assignment to duty, for no service during the naval war 
with France was so desirable as that on board the frigate Con- 
stellation under her Commander, Commodore Thomas Truxtun. 

The frigate Constellation, which was built at the shipyard of 
David Stodder in Baltimore, has been described as one of those 
happy first products of our navy that were never afterwards sur- 
passed. In beauty of hull she was not even equaled by the 
famous Constitution. 

Truxtun's duty was to " protect American commerce from the 

37 



38 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

depredation of French vessels," and this, through the summer and 
autumn of 1798, he successfully accomplished. In January, 1799, 
there were only two French ships of war in the West Indies, the 
Volontaire, 40 guns, and Instirgente, 36. These frigates had 
lately arrived out from France, and had captured the schooner 
Retaliation, 14, Lieut. Wm. Bainbridge. 

Early in February Truxtun left Basseterre, St. Kitts, in his 
flagship, and ran down toward Nevis. His executive officer, Lieut. 
John Rodgers has left a detailed account of their meeting with 
and capture of the famous French frigate Insurgente, " mounting 
40 guns and 8 swivels, with 411 men." 

" Though I am not in the habit of boasting," concludes the 
report, " yet I candidly tell you I should feel happy with the same 
officers and same men on going alongside of the best 50-gun ship 
the all-conquering French Republic have — at any hour." 

The action lasted one hour and a quarter, during which the 
Insurgente lost seventy men, of whom twenty-nine were killed, and 
the others wounded. The Constellation had four men wounded, 
one of whom died of his wounds. 

Lieut. John Rodgers was given command of the Insurgente, 
from which he was detached in June, 1799, when he received the 
following letter from the Secretary of the Na\y, Mr. Stoddert: 
''I do myself the honor to enclose your commission as captain of 
the navy service of the United States. It is the President's desire 
that you take command of the Maryland at Baltimore, etc., etc." 

Rodgers' sailing orders were dated September 5th, 1799, and 
read in part: " The moment the Maryland is ready for sea . . . 
you will please to proceed to Surinam where you will join Cap- 
tain McNeill of the Portsmouth, . . . Your object must be to 
give all possible security to our trade by capturing the enemy's 
vessels wherever to be found on the high seas. ..." 

The Surinam station lay along the north coast of South America 




i^-^^V^mWZ " ^ -Si.\: 







LA FAYETTE 



After a Painting by Scheffer, 1824 



UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 39 

and extended from French Guiana to the Dutch island of Cura^oa. 

On September 13th Rodgers sailed from Baltimore and arrived 
on his station early in October. His duty was convoying Ameri- 
can ships and clearing the seas of French privateers. One year 
later he re-entered the Chesapeake, and spent the winter of 1800- 
01 at Baltimore, refitting his ship. 

On September 30, 1800, a treaty between France and the 
United States was signed at Paris; and on February 18, 1801, 
the Senate, after amending, ratified it. These amendments 
rendered necessary another ratification by the French govern- 
ment. President Adams chose Rodgers and the Maryland to make 
the voyage to France with the treaty, and President Jefferson 
selected Mr. John Dawson, a Congressman from Virginia, to 
serve as the official bearer of the document. 

The Captain's sailing orders were dated March 21, 1801, and 
the Maryland arrived at her home port again the follov/ing 
August. 

Rodgers was now twenty-eight years old. For more than two 
years he had been a captain, the highest naval rank then known. 
As executive officer of the Constellation, he had participated in 
one of the two frigate fights of the war, and had with the other 
officers of his vessel received the thanks of the President and the 
Secretary of the Navy. For several months he commanded the 
Insurgente, the principal prize of the war, and one of our largest 
frigates. For the larger part of a year he commanded the Mary- 
land and the Surinam station. Lastly, he had the honor to be 
chosen to convey to France the bearer of the new French- 
American treaty, a mission that he performed to the entire satis- 
faction of the Government. 

Scarcely were our difficulties with France settled than we be- 
gan a war with Tripoli ; and our naval activities shifted from the 
West Indies to the Mediterranean, where, in 1784, the Barbary 



40 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

corsairs commenced capturing our merchantmen. For hundreds 
of years the Barbary States of Northern Africa had been an in- 
tolerable nuisance among nations. Swarming over the Mediter- 
ranean, their pirates robbed the ships of Christian nations, mur- 
dering their crews or holding them for ransom. Instead of wiping 
these miscreants from the face of the earth, as any one of the 
leading powers could have done, they paid tribute or blackmail 
to the swarthy wretches on condition that they would not harm 
the vessels of Christian countries when they ventured upon the 
Mediterranean. Hardly had the United States won its inde- 
pendence than it joined the other nations in buying protection 
from the Barbary States. The Pacha of Tripoli, finding he was 
receiving less tribute than he thought he should receive, wrote 
President Adams a menacing letter, and ordered the flagstaff at 
the American consulate to be cut down; whereupon our consul, 
James L. Cathcart, left the Pacha's dominions, and we were at 
war with Tripoli. This was in May, 1801. 

The government at Washington immediately fitted out a 
squadron of four ships, under Commodore Richard Dale, who 
arrived at Gibraltar on July i, 1801, and proceeded up the Medi- 
terranean. The most notable event of his cruise was the gal- 
lant capture by the U. S. S. Enter prise ^ Lieut. Andrew Sterrett, 
of a Tripolitan vessel of 14 guns, in which action the Americans 
did not lose a man. 

In 1802, John Rodgers, in command of the John Adams, joined 
the Mediterranean Squadron, and received orders in May, 1803, 
to ^^ proceed to Tripoli, and cruise off that port . . . until the 
Pacha should make an offer of peace." On the 12 th he captured 
the Tripolitan cruiser Meshouda, as she was entering the harbor 
with a load of naval and military stores, and took his prize to 
Malta where he arrived on May 19th. 

In the spring of 1804, Rodgers was ordered to conunand the 



UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 41 

frigate Congress. " Anticipating his return to the Mediterranean 
he was extending his knowledge of the classic lands of antiquity 
by reading Virgil "; he also at that time procured a midshipman's 
warrant for his youngest brother, George Washington Rodgers, 
then a lad of seventeen years. The Congress was equipping in 
Washington, and when about the ist of June Rodgers dropped 
down to Hampton Roads, he wrote to an employee of the Wash- 
ington Yard who had failed to equip the frigate with certain 
necessary articles: "It is to your interest to pray that m^y head 
may be knocked off before I return, for be assured if you are not 
punished before that period I will revenge the injury you have 
done me with my own hands." 

The Congress sailed on July 5th, for Tripoli, with the other 
vessels of Com.modore Barron's squadron, but shortly after their 
arrival there Barron fell gravely ill, and turned over the command 
of the blockading squadron to Rodgers. On November ist, 
Rodgers transferred his flag to the Constitution, which was for 
several years his sea home. Under his command there were 
seventeen vessels, the largest fleet of the American Navy that had 
ever gone to sea, and under the mouths of his cannon he con- 
ducted successful negotiations with the rulers of the country, 
bringing the wars with the Barbary corsairs to an end in 1806. 
To Commodore John Rodgers must always be given a conspicu- 
ous and honorable place in the history of our wars with the 
Barbary States. 

From 1809-12, he commanded the home squadron, with orders 
to cruise along the coast to prevent impressment of American 
seamen by British cruisers. On May 16, 181 1, a shot was fired 
at Rodgers' flagship, the President, by a strange sail, which 
proved to be the British ship Little Belt. Several broadsides 
were exchanged by both ships, and as we were not then at war 
with Great Britain the event widened the breach between the two 



42 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

countries. Commodore Rodgers was, however, acquitted of 
blame by a court. 

In June, 1812, he sailed in the President, in command of a 
squadron to intercept the British West India Squadron, and on 
June 23rd, met the British frigate Belvidera, which escaped after 
a running fight of eight hours. 

Commodore Rodgers made four cruises in the President, cap- 
turing 12 vessels, including the Highflyer, September 23, 18 13, 
His prizes numbered 23 in all. 

After the war of 18 12, he declined the office of Secretary of the 
Navy, but was appointed president of the Board of Naval Com- 
missioners, which office he held from 18 15 to 1837, except during 
the years 1825-27, when he commanded the Mediterranean 
Squadron. 

A letter from Commodore John Rodgers to Mr. Southard, Sec- 
retary of the Navy, dated *' U. S. S. North Carolina, Port Mahon, 
20th Dec. 1825," reads in part: *' I have to inform you that the 
ships the Brandywine, Constitution, and Erie arrived on the 28th, 
(Nov.) after a passage of twelve days from Gibraltar. The 
Governor and others . . . appear disposed to be very courteous 
and friendly. The harbor is certainly the finest I ever was in — " 
these words would recall the couplet of Andrea Doria: 

" Junio, Julio, Agosto, y puerto Mahon 
Los mejores puertos del Mediterraneo." 

" June, July, August, and Port Mahon are the best harbors of 
the Mediterranean." 

'' It has been found necessary," continues the report, " to caulk 
the Brandywine nearly all over. . . . 

" A Dutch Brig of war arrived here a few days since direct 
from Smyrna, the Comdr. of which vessel reports piracies to 
have become very frequent of late in that sea. . . . The officers 



UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 43 

and crew of the squadron are in good health, and as the ships 
will all be in complete readiness for sea in less than a month 
it is not unlikely that I shall leave here sooner than at first 
contemplated, in which event I shall probably visit Messina before 
I proceed up the Mediterranean, which is my intention to do 
earlier the ensuing spring than I was able to do the last. 

" From the kind reception the Squadron met with last summer 
in such parts towards the head of the Mediterranean as our ships 
had not been in the habit of frequenting, I am led to believe that 
showing them occasionally where we are least known would have 
a good effect; for on our last visit to Smyrna even the Turkish 
women, altho' veiled and guarded by Eunuchs, were tempted on 
several occasions to visit the ships of the New World, as they 
called them ; I mention this because it was said the like had never 
been permitted before. In their visits they looked at everything 
and everybody on board but spoke to none. Their persons were 
so completely enveloped by the kind of dress they wore that 
nothing but thir eyes could be seen, and even them not very 
distinctly. ..." 

That the fleet did not leave Port Mahon as early as anticipated 
is witnessed by the fact that in February, 1826, the schooner 
Porpoise joined the squadron there, bringing orders for the re- 
turn of the Brandywine to the United States, to be fitted out for 
a cruise in the Pacific. 

" I have," — writes Commodore Rodgers, in a report dated 
Port Mahon, February 25, 1826, — "at the request of some 
of the officers of the Brandywine who did not wish to return, 
permitted an exchange of situations with others of similar 
grade who did, and which I hope you will approve; " and re- 
ferring to the log of the Constitution^ we find that on Februar}'- 
21, 1826, "the following joined her from the Brandywine: Mid- 
shipmen Hansford, Hoff, Bache, Page, Brent, Deacon, Radford." 



44 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

On February 26th the Brandywine sailed for the United States; 
and on April nth, the Constitution, under Captain Daniel T. 
Patterson, sailed, in company with the rest of the fleet, for 
Gibraltar, whence, after visiting Algiers and Tunis, they headed 
for the eastern end of the Mediterranean. 

Captain — later Commodore — Daniel Tod Patterson was born 
on Long Island, N. Y., March 6, 1786, entered U. S. Navy as 
midshipman, August, 1800, and was attached to the frigate Phila- 
delphia, under Capt. Wm. Bainbridge, when she ran upon a reef 
off Tripoli and was taken by a flotilla of Tripolitan gunboats. 
Patterson was kept a prisoner with the other officers and men of 
the Philadelphia until 1805. In 1807 he was promoted to 
lieutenant, and in 1813 was made a commander. In 18 14 he 
had charge of the naval forces at New Orleans, co-operating 
ably with General Andrew Jackson, and receiving the thanks of 
Congress. 

Attaining the rank of captain he was given in 1825 command 
of tlie Constitution, succeeding Capt. Thomas Macdonough, 
who was ill and who died on his way back to the United States. 

Commodore Daniel Patterson's sons were Rear Admiral Har- 
mon Patterson, U. S. N., and IMr. Carlisle Patterson, Head of 
the United States Coast Survey; his daughter became Mrs. D. D. 
Porter. 

Many were the anecdotes my father used to tell of those early 
days at Port Mahon, which was then considered a midshipmens' 
paradise; and adverse elements alone prevented us, his family, 
from visiting, in later years, this spot which always retained so 
bright a hold upon his memory. One story there was in par- 
ticular, which, as children, always amused us greatly. 

Commodore Rodgers was, as may well be imagined, a strict 
disciplinarian of the old school, and from all accounts he was 
held in very respectful awe by those youngsters of former days. 



UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 45 

His habit was, when meeting a midshipman strolling about the 
streets of Mahon to order him to " fall in," and follow him about 
the town until the time of his leave had expired. In consequence 
of this the midshipmen never dared, when on shore, turn a corner 
without first peeping furtively around to see that they ran no 
risk of coming face to face with their redoubtable Commander-in- 
Chief. 

The log of the flagship North Carolina for the years 1826-27 
throws much light on the employment of officers and crew on a 
line-of-battle ship in the old Na\y. Beside the ever continuous 
" gun practice," — what, I wonder, would have been thought then 
of the monster weapons of today? — there was the reefing and 
furling of sails, the making of signals, and the cleaning and 
Repairing of the ship, while the holystone and paint-pot played 
the same role then as now. Courts-martial were held, salutes fired, 
visits of ceremony exchanged, and orders for placing the ship in 
m.ourning issued. 

In November, 1826, funeral honors were paid to ex-Presidents 
Jefferson and Adams — who, by a singular coincidence, had de- 
parted this life upon the same day — " by hoisting the flag at half 
mast, firing minute guns, cock-billing the yards, wearing crape and 
painting black various parts of the ship." 

Commodore Rodgers, during his command, greatly improved 
the moral tone of the squadron. He forbade duelling, criticism 
of superiors, the v/earing of civilian dress ashore; he likewise 
forbade the midshipmen lending money to each other or becoming 
indebted to tradesmen, while all gambling, either public or private, 
was absolutely prohibited. 

An incident which is said to have occurred on board one of 
Rodgers' vessels while cruising in the Archipelago in the summer 
of 1826 may be quoted as illustrative of the discipline maintained 
in the old Navy. The story is narrated by one of the officers of 



46 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

the vessel: *' A short time since one of our Lieutenants acci- 
dentally heard one of the crew whistling on the quarter-deck. 
* Mount that capstan/ said he, * and whistle until I order you to 
stop/ 

" ' Aye, aye, sir,' was the ready reply. Whereupon the sailor 
seated himself upon it, and whistled away for a long time, got 
wearied, made many a wry face, cursed his bad luck, and whistled 
again. Some six hours passed and the poor fellow's mouth had 
assumed rather an odd shape, for whistle he could not, and at 
length gradually extending his jaws, he asked for a drink of 

water, and dryly exclaimed: ' I'm d d if I ain't tired of 

whistling.' The officer of the deck then gave him permission to 
come down." 

On June 28, 1826, the fleet rendezvoused at Vourla, 20 miles 
from Smyrna, and there received news of the revolt of the Janis- 
saries, which had taken place at Constantinople on June 15th. 
These Turkish Janissaries dated from the year 1360, when Sul- 
tan Amurath I formed for himself a bodyguard of Christian 
captives, which force, highly privileged, soon swelled to large 
dimensions, and from being the Sultan's slaves, became his mas- 
ters. When, in 1826, Mahmoud II started the reorganization of 
his army, the Janissaries rose against him, but, as a body, were 
annihilated by the new troops who proved faithful. Such, in 
brief, is the history of the Janissaries, the earliest standing army 
in Europe. 

From Vourla, Commodore Rodgers reports on July i8th: 
'' Since I wrote you last ... I have had the gratification to show 
the squadron and display the flag of the United States at the 
entrance of the Dardanelles. 

" On the 30th ultimo I left here with this ship," {North 
Carolina), " the Constitution, Ontario and Porpoise for the Island 
of Tenedos, at which place we anchored on the second instant. 



UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 47 

Soon after anchoring the Governor of the Island paid me a visit 
and informed me that the Capudan Pacha with his whole fleet 
tlien lay at the Dardanelles. I informed him that I was desirous 
of seeing the Turkish fleet and of communicating with the Capu- 
dan Pacha, and therefore wished to know when the fleet would 
be out. He replied that the fleet would sail in 10 or 12 days. 
You will be surprised when I tell you that he now asked me what 
country our flag represented? I told him that it was the flag of 
the United States of America. He said that neither himself nor 
any other person on the Island had ever seen such a flag before. 

" He offered to furnish guides if the officers of the squadron 
wished to visit the plains of Troy and the tombs of Ajax and 
Achilles, which form one side of the Straits in which the 
squadron then lay, and other interesting relics in sight. I ac- 
cepted his offer, and a guide was accordingly sent the next day 
when the officers commenced and were allowed by turns as their 
duties would permit to explore the country from the entrance of 
the Dardanelles to Eske Stamboul/' (Ancient Constantinople.) 

These reports give us a mental picture of the activities of the 
officers of the fleet at that time, and enable us to realize, at least 
in part, how Midshipman William Radford was then employed. 

On July 4th, a division of the Turkish fleet, 23 sail in all, 
appeared coming out of the Dardanelles. 

A fresh gale was blowing, and one of the frigates ran on a 
rock between Tenedos and the plains of Troy, breaking off her 
rudder. So serious was the damage that the Capudan Pacha 
came himself to Tenedos to investigate the matter. 

Having arrived there he sent a lieutenant, accompanied by a 
dragoman, to present his compliments to Commodore Rodgers, 
to say how happy he felt to see the American squadron, and also 
to inform the Commodore that he would be glad to see him on 
shore the next day at whatever hour would suit his convenience. 



48 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

This matter having been settled the Commodore expressed his 
regrets that the frigate should have met with so serious an acci- 
dent, to which the lieutenant replied that he also regretted the 
matter as the Capudan Pacha was greatly incensed against the 
frigate's captain, and would undoubtedly cut off his head unless, 
during the next day's meeting, the Commodore should intercede 
for him. 

This, in taking leave the following day of the Capudan Pacha, 
Commodore Rodgers accordingly did, when he was informed that 
the punishment would be remitted provided the Commodore him- 
self would " give the man a good beating." Protesting indig- 
nantly at the suggestion the Commodore and his Staff took their 
departure without having obtained satisfaction in regard to the 
matter; but learned the next morning that the disabled frigate 
had sailed under the command of the same captain. 

On July 9th, Commodore Rodgers having afforded the officers 
under his command an opportunity of visiting the plains of Troy 
and adjacent country, the squadron got under way, and " beat up 
against a head wind and strong current to the entrance to the 
Dardanelles, so near as to afford a minute view of the batteries 
on either side of its entrance." 

This unlooked-for appearance of the American fleet created 
quite an alarm; the guns of the batteries were hastily manned, 
and an express sent off to the Capudan Pacha at the Hellespont. 

The Capudan Pacha, to whom Commodore Rodgers had com- 
municated his intention of looking into the Dardanelles with the 
squadron, laughed very heartily at the account of '^ the large 
ships and strange flag which were then to be seen at the Dar- 
danelles." 

" After all on board the squadron," writes Commodore 
Rodgers, '^ had been gratified with a sight of this singular strait 
that communicates with the Black Sea, the signal was made and 



UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 49 

we bore away for Mytilene. The atmosphere at the time was 
singularly serene, and . . . the prospect from our decks was 
peculiarly sublime and interesting, for just before sunset the fol- 
lowing objects, which have been the themes of so much history, 
poetry and song, presented themselves to view. The entrance 
to the Dardanelles, as well as that to the river Scamander; the 
islands of Tenedos, Imbros, Samothrace and Lemnos; Mount Ida, 
Mount Athos and Mount Olympus; the tombs of Ajax and 
Achilles, and Cape Baba were distinctly to be seen from the 
decks." 

A wonderful education was this for Midshipman Radford, who 
was learning the great lesson of life under strangely fascinating 
conditions. 

On July nth, the fleet anchored before the town of Mytilene, 
and the Commodore went ashore accompanied by the captains 
of the different vessels of his squadron to call upon the Gov- 
ernor, who returned the visit on the following day. Noting, 
upon the latter occasion, in the cabin of the North Carolina, a 
globe of the world, the Governor asked Mr. Offley, U. S. Con- 
sul to Smyrna, who was acting as interpreter, to point out to 
him just where the United States was situated. It so happened 
that the globe was turned in such a fashion that America lay on 
the under side, seeing which the wily Turk with an astute smile, 
remarked: " It's all right as long as Turkey is on top; " but his 
complacency was somewhat ruffled when Mr. Offley casually tipped 
the globe so that Turkey was completely lost to view. 

On July 14th, the Capudan Pacha's fleet, consisting of 2 ships 
of the line, 7 frigates, 7 corvettes, and 16 brigs and schooners, 
made its appearance at Mytilene. The ship bearing the flag of the 
Capudan Pacha anchored first, at 8 a.m. and as it did so the 
North Carolina fired a salute of 2 1 guns which was immediately 
returned by the same number. At 3 p.m. the following day the 



50 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Capudan Pacha went on board the North Carolina " in a splen- 
did barge, rowing twenty oars, and was received with the atten- 
tion due to the rank of the third personage of the Ottoman Em- 
pire. He remained on board for two hours, visited every part 
of the ship and left with many expressions of friendship and 
respect for the American Nation. As he left the yards were 
manned — the men dressed in white — and a salute of 21 guns 
fired." 

On July 1 8th, " the squadron got under way and ran down 
through the Turkish fleet; each ship on coming abreast of the 
flag of the Capudan Pacha manned her rigging and gave him three 
cheers, the band at the same time playing * Hail Columbia.' " 

" The exhibition of the squadron on this occasion must have 
been very imposing," writes Commodore Rodgers to the Hon. 
Samuel L. Southard, ^' inasmuch as the several evolutions of 
getting under way, of making sail, of tacking, of bearing up, of 
manning the rigging, and of putting the ship under a crowd of 
sail in a moment as it were, were performed each with a celerity 
and precision such as I have never before witnessed, and will, 
without doubt, leave a lasting impression on the minds of every 
Turk who witnessed the scene. 

" Every mark of respect I thought it necessary to tender the 
Capudan Pacha for his polite attentions to me, and the uniform 
protection which he is known to have afforded to our commerce 
in these seas for several years past being now rendered, I shaped 
my course for this place (Vouria) where I arrived the next morn- 
ing at 8 o'clock. . . . Capudan Pacha in the polity of the Turks 
signifies the Turkish High Admiral. He is invested with the 
same power at sea that the Vizier has on shore." 

Truly indeed have the Turks deteriorated since those 
days. 

Throughout the summer of 1826 the squadron remained at the 



UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 51 

eastern end of the Mediterranean. In November the Constitution 
was laid up at Port Mahon for repairs, and there she spent the 
winter. 

From Gibraltar Rodgers reports during that time: "Although 
the vessels of every other nation have suffered more or less by the 
depredations of the Greek pirates infesting the Archipelago, no 
American up to this time has been molested." 

Expecting to sail for the United States sometime during the 
month of May, 1827, Commodore Rodgers writes, on November 
26, 1826, to the Secretary of the Navy: " Captain Patterson is a 
sensible, well informed, discreet officer, and should none senior to 
him arrive before my departure entire confidence may be placed 
in his keeping up the discipline of the service, etc." 

Another report from the Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary 
of the Navy, dated "Toulon, Dec. 21st, 1826," reads in part: 
" The Constitution I shall send into the Levant early in IVIarch. 
. . . It is currently reported here that England, France, Russia, 
Austria and Prussia have united in a determination to put an 
end to the war between the Porte and her revolted Greek 
subjects." ^ 

In the log of the Constitution we read under the date of ^larch 
30, 1827, " At 6 weighed, and stood out under top sails, jib and 
spanker. Saluted the Commodore with 13 guns which was an- 
swered with 7, At 6.30 hove to and discharged pilot. At 640 
filled away and made all necessary sail. At 8 Cape Mole, the 
Western extremity of Minorca." 

This salute of 13 guns was the Constitution's farewell to Com- 
modore Rodgers, who sailed in ]\Iay for the United States; while 
the following extract from a letter from Captain Patterson — who 
succeeded Rodgers in command of the fleet — shows that he had 
kept to the eastern end of the Mediterranean throughout the spring 
and summer of 1827. 



52 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" U. S. Ship Constitution, 

Smyrna, Sept. 22nd, 1827. 

" I arrived in this sea very early in ApriL Have spent a por- 
tion of the summer on the coast of Greece and among the 
Islands, seen much of the people and visited many places of great 
interest and attraction, such as Athens, Megara, Corinth, Salamis, 
Spezzia, Napoli di Romana, and have mixed personally with 
people of every class and condition and lament to say that the 
result is not as favorable as the friends of Greece might rea- 
sonably expect. . . . But amidst all the dangers they are beset 
with, be it to their honor recorded, the word * submission * never 
issued from their lips, nor have I heard of an instance where 
they have, upon being summoned, laid down their arms. Such 
a people may be exterminated but cannot be subdued. . . . 

" I first anchored in Salamis Road (scene of Themistocles' tri- 
umph) in May last, from Ephesus, shortly after the disastrous 
defeat they suffered at Athens, when the most numerous and 
effective army they had ever collected together was almost anni- 
hilated. 

" Unhappily for Greece and the noble — I might say Holy — 
cause for which she is contending, she is distracted by internal 
dissensions, distrust, sectional jealousies and animosities, para- 
lyzing her every effort and those of her best friends and sup- 
porters." 

Strange indeed how history repeats itself! 

" I have witnessed," continues Captain Patterson, " such scenes 
of human wretchedness and misery arising from want of food as 
no language can depict, and which would draw tears of compas- 
sion from the most hardened, even, I believe from a Turk. ..." 

''This ship," concludes the report, "will I hope return to 
the United States next spring and not before, for I assure you 



UNDER COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS 53 

she is not in a state, either in hull or sails, to encounter a winter 
passage. 

" I have the honor to be, 

*' Very Respectfully, Your Ob't Serv't 
"Dan'l T. Patterson." 
" To the Hon'ble 
Saml L. Southard, 
Sec. of the Navy." 

The only record of those days preserved to us in Midshipman 
William Radford's own handwriting is the following copy of an 
official paper addressed by him to the Secretary of the Navy. 

" U. S. Frigate Constitution, 
" Mahon, January 8, 1828, 
" Sir, 

"I herewith acknowledge the receipt of my Warrant as a Mid- 
shipman in the Navy of the United States, 

" I have the honor to be 

" with the highest respect 

" Your Obt. servant, 

"William Radford." 
" Hon'ble Samuel L. Southard, 
'' Secretary of the Navy." 

As his commission dated from March i, 1825, it appears 
strange that the above should only have reached him at that time. 

The wish expressed in the concluding sentence of Captain Pat- 
terson's report was respected by the powers at Washington and 
the Constitution remained at her station in the Mediterranean 
until the summer of 1828, when she returned to the United 
States, and went out of commission on July 19th, at the Boston 
Navy Yard. 



54 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Commodore John Rodgers left one son, Robert S., a Colonel in 
the Civil War, father of the late Rear Admiral Frederick Rodgers, 
and of Rear Admiral John A. Rodgers; and two daughters; 
Louisa, the wife of Montgomery C. Meigs, Quarter Master Gen- 
eral U. S. A., and Ann, the wife of John Navarre IMacomb, Colonel 
U. S. Engineers, father of Montgomery Meigs Macomb, Brigadier 
General U. S. A. 



CHAPTER V 
" OLD IRONSIDES " 

A SKETCH of the fighting career of the Constitution, one of 
the most famous ships of our old Navy, will surely interest lovers 
of naval history. 

At the time when she was built, three classes of ships formed 
the bulk of most navies, — sloops, frigates, and line-of-battle ships. 
They usually carried three masts with square sails, and were dis- 
tinguished by the number of decks having complete batteries. 
The Levant J captured by the Constitution in 1815, was a typical 
sloop. She had, on a single deck, eighteen 3 2 -pound carronades, 
two long 9-pounders, and one shifting 12-pounder. This battery 
is characteristic, and indicates the usual armament of the sloop. 

The frigate was always ship-rigged, and carried guns on two 
decks, the main or gun-deck having a complete battery, and the 
upper or spar-deck having guns only on the forward and after 
parts. The waists seldom mounted any guns. 

Line-of-battle ships, as their name indicates, were intended 
to take the shock of battle between fleets. They carried guns 
on three or more decks. Two of these decks had full batteries, 
usually of thirty long guns, and carronades were placed on the 
quarter-deck and the forecastle. The smallest line-of-battle ship 
was so vastly superior to an ordinary frigate that a captain in 
command of the latter was entirely justified in declining an action 
with the former. 

During the war of 181 2, the British had no regulated sights 

55 



56 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

for their guns, and they suffered by comparison with the Ameri- 
cans, who were clever enough to provide fair substitutes for the 
modern sight-bar. In some cases tubes were placed along the 
tops of the guns, with adjustments for various elevations or 
distances. The height of the decks above water-level also had an 
important bearing upon the fighting qualities of a ship. Other 
things being equal, the vessel with the higher decks had the 
advantage in a rough sea. 

Early in 1794, when a need for armed vessels to protect our 
commerce from the depredations of the Barbary corsairs had 
arisen. Congress authorized the construction of six frigates, the 
Constitution, United States, President, Constellation, Congress, 
and Chesapeake. 

In 1796, when our relations with the Barbary States became 
more peaceful, the building of the six frigates was partly sus- 
pended, but in 1797-98, the threatening aspect of our affairs with 
France caused it to be resumed and prosecuted with vigor. In 
June, 1798, the Navy Department was organized, with Benjamin 
Stoddert of Georgetown, D. C, as Naval Secretary. 

In the spring of that year an irregular and desultory naval 
war between the United States and France broke out and con- 
tinued until February, 1801. This quasi-conflict led to a large 
increase of the Navy, which at its maximum strength consisted of 
fifty vessels, seven hundred and fifty officers, and fifty-five hun- 
dred seamen. In July, 1797, Congress made an appropriation for 
completing three frigates, the Constitution, the United States, 
and the Constellation, for which Mr. Joshua Humphreys, a well- 
known shipbuilder of Philadelphia, prepared the models. The 
Constitution, a 44-gun frigate, was built in Boston, and launched 
in October, 1797. 

After launching her the government did not proceed with much 
diligence to fit her out, and the summer arrived before the Con- 



" OLD IRONSIDES " 57 

stitution got fairly away. Four squadrons were then forming to 
patrol the coast and the West Indies, where French privateers had 
wrought great havoc upon our merchant shipping. 

The Constitution, under Capt. Samuel Nicholson, was in- 
cluded in the detail for this service. She dropped down from the 
inner harbor of Boston to the Roads on July 2, 1798, and cleared 
for sea on the 22nd. The Constitution proved to be too large for 
the duties assigned to her, as the French sent no heavy armed 
ships to America, in consequence of the war with England and of 
the numerous English fleet in the West Indies. She therefore 
accomplished little under Captain Nicholson. The Constellation, 
a smaller frigate, was more lucky. In 1799, Captain Nicholson 
returned to Boston and gave up his command to Commodore 
Silas Talbot, who, with Isaac Hull as first lieutenant, took the 
Constitution as his flagship. She carried four hundred officers 
and men at that time. 

There were then four grades of officers: Captains, Master 
Commandants, Lieutenants, and Midshipmen. The senior cap- 
tain in a squadron, while in command, received the title of Com- 
modore, and flew a broad pennant at his mainmast to designate 
the flagship. 

The term of enlistment for seamen w^as only one year, and 
ships were often much embarrassed by the necessity of getting 
back to port for new crews. During the war with the Barbary 
pirates Congress extended the period of enlistment to two years, 
and in 1820 this was further extended to three years. 

The Constitution Itii Boston in August, 1799, under Commodore 
Talbot, to become the flagship on the San Domingo station. 
As she was very heavily built and carried guns considerably 
heavier than the corresponding rate in the British Navy, she was 
much criticised by the English in the West Indies. While cruising 
to windward of San Domingo, a ship was sighted which turned out 



58 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

to be a British frigate commanded by an acquaintance of Com- 
modore Talbot. The English captain went on board the Con- 
stitution to take a look at the craft, and after examining her he 
expressed great admiration for her, but declared that his own 
ship could beat her on the wind. He offered to bet a cask' of 
Madeira wine against an equivalent in money if Commodore 
Talbot would meet him thereabouts later for a trial of speed. 
The agreement was made, and the Englishman went into port 
to refit and clean the bottom of his ship. He came out at the 
appointed time, looking, as Jack Tar said, like a new fiddle. The 
two commanders dined together, and arranged the conditions of 
the race for the succeeding day. The ships kept near each other 
during the night, and Isaac Hull, who had charge of all details 
on the Constitution, made every preparation for the race, which 
began at dawn upon the firing of a gun. All day long the two 
ships beat to windward in short tacks, Hull watching every pos- 
sible opportunity and advantage. His skill in handling the ship 
on tliis occasion gained him a lasting reputation among the 
sailors, who were kept on deck moving from side to side when- 
ever a better slant of wind could be obtained thereby. When 
the gun was fired at sunset the Englishman was hull down to 
leeward. The Constitution accordingly squared away before the 
wind and joined him after dark. A boat was waiting, and the 
English captain came on board, like a true sportsman, with his 
cask of Madeira. 

The relations between American and English ships did not lack 
cordiality at that period, in spite of the growing irritation over 
the impressment of our seamen. 

Having heard that the Sandwich, a French letter of marque, 
was in the harbor of Porto Plata, on the north side of San 
Domingo, loading with coffee. Commodore Talbot determined to 
cut her out. Isaac Hull was directed, on the loth of May, 1800, 



'' OLD IRONSIDES " 59 

to take a detachment of sailors and marines from the Constitu- 
tion for this duty, and to bring the Sandwich out if practicable. 
The work was admirably done in broad daylight. The ship, 
after capture, had to be rigged before they could move her; but 
nothing daunted the American sailors, and she sailed out at 
sunset. 

Upon the return of the Constitution to Boston in August, 
1800, the Secretary of the Na\'y wrote a very glowing tribute to 
Commodore Talbot for his meritorious services in " protecting 
with effect a great proportion of our commerce, in laying the 
foundation of a permanent trade with San Domingo, and in caus- 
ing the American character to be respected." 

By act of Congress, March 3, 1801, the Navy was reduced to 
a peace footing. The crew of the Constitution was paid off, and 
the ship dismantled at the Boston Navy Yard, where she lay from 
March, 1801, to August, 1803. On the 14th of that month she 
sailed for the Mediterranean under the command of Edward 
Preble, to serve as flagship on the blockade which broke the 
power of the corsair. She carried out as passengers Colonel 
Tobias Lear, Consul General of the United States to the Ear- 
bary States, and his wife. 

Edward Preble was born at Portland, Me., in 176 1. In 1779 
his father obtained a midshipman's warrant for him in the Massa- 
chusetts' State Marine, and he went to sea on the Protector, a 26- 
gun ship commanded by J. F. Williams. He was in two actions 
with the British, and was taken prisoner and sent to New York, 
where a friend of his father's secured his release. He promptly 
joined the Winthrop, as first lieutenant, and distinguished him- 
self greatly in a successful cutting-out expedition under the guns 
of Castine. 

He subsequently spent fifteen years in the merchant service and 
saw much of the world. He received a commission as lieutenant 



6o OLD NAVAL DAYS 

in the Navy, in April, 1798. Promoted to captain in June, 1799, 
he was placed in command of the Essex.. In May, 1803, he was 
detailed to get the Constitution ready for service in the Mediter- 
ranean. He was one of the best of our early seamen, and as an 
officer earned the good will of all who served under him. 

The Constitution reached Gibraltar on September 12, 1803, 
just twenty-nine days from Boston. 

The following incident of the voyage out is related by Morris 
who was then serving as a midshipman on board. 

''We had nothing of interest on the passage until near the 
entrance of the Straits of Gibraltar, when, upon a very dark 
evening, with very light winds, we suddenly found ourselves near 
a vessel which was evidently a ship of war. The crew were im- 
mediately but silently brought to quarters, after which the Com- 
modore gave the usual hail: 'What ship is that? ' The same 
question was returned ; in reply to which the name of our ship was 
given, and the question repeated. Again the question was re- 
turned instead of an answer, and again our ship's name given 
and the question repeated, without other reply than its repeti- 
tion. The Commodore's patience seemed now exhausted, and, 
taking the trumpet, he hailed and said, ' I am now going to hail 
you for the last time. If a proper answer is not returned, I will 
fire a shot into you.' A prompt answer came back, ' If you fire 
a shot, I will return a broadside.' Preble then hailed, ' What 
ships is that? ' The reply was, ' This is His Britannic Majesty's 
ship Donegal, eighty-four guns. Sir Richard Strahan, an English 
Commodore. Send your boat on board.' Under the excitement of 
the moment, Preble leaped on the hammocks, and returned for 
answer, ' This is the United States ship Constitution, forty-four 
guns, Edward Preble, an American Commodore, who will be 
damned before he sends his boat on board of any vessel.' And, 
turning to the crew, he said, ' Blow your matches, boys.' The 



''OLD IRONSIDES" 6i 

conversation here ceased, and soon after a boat was heard coming 
from the stranger, and arrived with a lieutenant from the frigate 
Maidstone. The object of this officer was to apologize for the 
apparent rudeness which had been displayed. He stated that our 
ship had not been seen until we had hailed them; that it was, 
of course, very important to gain time to bring their men to quar- 
ters, especially as it was apparent we were not English, and they 
had no expectation of meeting an American ship of war there; 
and that this object had induced their delay and misrepresenta- 
tion in giving the ship's name. The excuses were deemed satis- 
factory, and the ships separated. This was the first occasion that 
had offered to show us what we might expect from our com- 
mander, and the spirit and decision which he displayed were hailed 
with pleasure by all, and at once mitigated greatly the unfriendly 
feelings which the exhibitions of his temper had produced." 

His subordinates on this voyage had at first disliked him, but 
with time, had discovered beneath a violent temper kindness and 
justice; and though his discipline was rigid, applications to serve 
under him were always numerous. 

Before going into the Mediterranean, Preble found it advis- 
able to secure the Straits for the free entrance of American 
ships. There was good ground for believing that the Emperor 
of ]Morocco had broken the treaty signed by his father, as the 
Philadelphia on her way to Gibraltar had run across the Moorish 
ship Mir b oka in possession of an American merchantman. Cap- 
tain Bainbridge had taken them both into Gibraltar, where an- 
other cruiser, the Meshouda, v/as held by the squadron. She had 
been captured while trying to run the blockade of Tripoli, by the 
John Adams J under John Rodgers. 

Preble accordingly sent the Philadelphia and the Vixen (Capt. 
John Smith), to establish once more the blockade of Tripoli, 
and he then crossed over to Tangier in the Constitution, accom- 



62 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

panled by the Nautilus (Capt. Richard Somers), and the John 
Adams, whose commander had generously waived his seniority 
over Preble for the good of the cause. 

Soon after Bainbridge arrived off the harbor of Tripoli, he sent 
the Vixen in search of a cruiser that had come out a few days 
before, and was thus left to maintain the dangerous blockade 
alone with a ship entirely too deep for inshore work. A gale of 
wind swept him to the eastward, and, on October 31st, while 
returning before a fair breeze, he sighted a large xebec standing 
into Tripoli. With his usual impetuosity, he chased her close in 
shore within three miles of the town, but she escaped. In haul- 
ing off, the Philadelphia ran on a shelving rock, the position of 
which was not known to the Americans, and her bow was lifted 
from three to four feet by the force of the blow. The yards were 
braced aback, and the guns were run aft, where the water was 
deeper, in the attempt to get her off. Nine of the enemy's gun- 
boats came out at once, and Captain Bainbridge hastened to have 
the forward guns and the anchors thrown overboard, but it was 
in vain; the case was hopeless. The gunboats had obtained a 
position from which they could fire upon the ship without a re- 
turn lire, and there was nothing for the Americans to do but to 
surrender. They made one last effort by pumping out the fresh 
water, throwing overboard all heavy articles and cutting away the 
foremast. Still the ship stuck hard and fast on the reef. Cap- 
tain Bainbridge then flooded the magazines, scuttled the ship, and 
hauled down the flag to save the lives of his crew. Thus 22 offi- 
cers and 293 men became prisoners of the Dey, and the Phila- 
delphia was added to his possessions a few days later, as a north- 
west gale piled up the sea around the rock, enabling the Tripoli- 
tans to get her into a position from which she could be easily 
floated. 

The loss of this ship had a baneful effect upon the war. Preble 



'' OLD IRONSIDES " 63 

might v/ell feel distressed and embarrassed at the very outset of 
his mission. He never showed any lack of confidence in Bain- 
bridge, however, and throughout his captivity managed to send 
him a number of generous and sympathetic letters. 

Captain Bainbridge has always been held blameless for an acci- 
dent that was bitterly expiated in eighteen months^ captivity 
under horrible conditions. There was no survey at that time, 
and he had no means of knowing the coast. 

Although the war with Tripoli was carried on mainly by tlie 
smaller ships, every expedition was planned on the Constitution, 
which was kept incessantly active. 

On the night of February i6th, the Philadelphia (as has been 
mentioned in Chapter II), was burned in the harbor of Tripoli 
by American sailors under Decatur. This expedition had been 
planned early in December by Preble, who had received letters 
from Bainbridge, through the Danish Consul, Mr. Nicholas Nis- 
sen, suggesting that the ship should be destroyed. (This sug- 
gestion was written in sympathetic ink.) Decatur had volun- 
teered to go in with his own ship, the Enterprise, and capture 
her by boarding, and Stewart had offered to cut her out with the 
Siren, but Preble substituted the Tripolitan ketch Mastico, that 
had been captured by the Enterprise, and which by reason of her 
general appearance was admirably adapted for the purpose. After 
fitting her out for this expedition at Syracuse she was rechristened 
Intrepid. 

In this wretched boat, rigged for sixteen oars, and hardly larger 
than a fair-sized sailing yacht, seventy-four men reached the 
coast four days later, convoyed by the brig Siren under the com- 
mand of Charles Stewart, and headed for a passage through the 
rocks to the inner harbor. 

She arrived in sight of the town on the afternoon of the 6th, 
and anchored off the entrance at nightfall ; but a sudden and vio- 



64 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

lent gale swept her to the eastward, and both she and the Siren had 
to ride out at sea a terrific storm that lasted six days and nights. 
At times it was feared that the Intrepid could not last through it ; 
but the seventh day found both vessels near the harbor, once 
more in favorable weather. The Siren, though well disguised, did 
not approach within sight of the coast during daylight, but the 
Intrepid sailed calmly for the port as if on an ordinary trading 
voyage. The boats of the Siren were to join her before going in 
but Decatur did not wait for them. The uncertainty of the 
weather forbade delay. He had made all his arrangements to 
burn the Philadelphia, and then to escape by towing or rowing 
the Intrepid out of the harbor under cover of the darkness. Every 
man had his allotted station and task. As soon as the frigate 
was taken each was to rush with combustibles to a specified 
place. The greater part of the crew lay hidden behind the bul- 
warks, as the ketch drifted slowly down in the half-darkness of 
a nev/ moon to the anchorage. 

It is terrible to consider what one mistake would have cost 
them. The Philadelphia had a full crew, all her guns were loaded, 
and she was surrounded by Tripolitan gunboats. Not one of the 
Americans could have escaped if the slightest suspicion had been 
aroused before boarding; yet they went boldly on to within a 
few feet of the Philadelphia, and, when hailed, the Maltese pilot 
they had with them replied that the ketch was a Maltese trader 
that had lost her anchors in a storm. They asked for a line 
and permission to tie up to the ship over night. They lay only 
forty yards from the port battery, and in the range of every 
gun at this time. While Decatur coolly sent a boat to make fast 
to the fore chains of the Philadelphia, some one of the latter's 
crew came out with a line from the stern, and assisted them in 
making fast there also. A few minutes of cautious pulling on the 
bow line, then a wild cry of "Americanos! " from a Turk who 



" OLD IRONSIDES " 65 

was looking over the bulwarks, and the Americans were clamber- 
ing up the side in a scramble to see who would be first on the 
frigate's deck. In a mad panic the crew were either cut down or 
driven into the sea. Everything worked exactly as Decatur had 
planned it, and within twenty minutes the ship was ablaze. His 
men were fairly driven back into their boat by the flames. 

The return was even more perilous than the entrance, as all 
the forts and gunboats had taken the alarm. Their shots were 
falling around the Intrepid and dashing the spray into the faces 
of her men, as she swept down the harbor under sixteen long oars. 
The flames of the Philadelphia, the roaring of her guns as they 
went off one by one in the intense heat, the blinding flashes of 
the Turkish guns, and the uproar in the town, made the night one 
never to be forgotten; a fit ending to what Nelson pronounced 
'' the most bold and daring act of the age." Decatur rejoined 
Stewart, who was waiting for him outside, and the two set sail 
for Syracuse. 

The log of the Constitution has the following entry concerning 
this event: 

" Sunday, Feby. 19th. — a.m. At 10 appeared in the offing the 
United States Brig Syren and the Intrepid. The wind being light 
we sent boats out to assist towing in. At half past 10 they 
passed through our squadron in triumph receiving three cheers as 
they passed. Lieutenant Stewart of the Syreit and Lieutenant 
Decatur of the Intrepid waited on the Commodore and informed 
him they had passed into the harbor of Tripoli agreeably to his 
orders, burnt and totally destroyed the late United States Frigate 
Philadelphia. The business being so well planned not a man was 
killed or wounded on our side. The Tripolitans had 20 killed, 
the others made their escape by jumping overboard after the 
ship was afire." 

Commodore Morris says in hJs journal that a boat with six 



66 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

men joined them from the Siren before going in, which v/ould 
account for the mention of the two ships in the log's entry. 

The extraordinary activity of the Constitution during the 
spring and summer of 1804 was almost like the work of a mod- 
ern steamer. She left Syracuse on the ist of March, and had 
put to sea nineteen times from that or other ports by the end 
of July. While in Syracuse Preble made serious preparations for 
an attack on the ships and fortifications of Tripoli, for which 
port he sailed on July 14th, with his fleet, and reached the coast on 
the 24th. 

The defenses of the Dey were very formidable. The city was 
walled, and the shore batteries mounted 119 guns, many of heavy 
caliber. In the harbor were 19 gunboats, 2 large galleys, 2 
schooners and a brig, all well armed and manned. The Tripolitan 
force on shore and afloat numbered upwards of 25,000, to oppose 
the American Squadron carrying 1,061 men. Preble had in all 
one frigate, three brigs, three schooners, six gunboats, and two 
mortar-boats. The Constitution carried at that time thirty long 
24-pounders on the gun-deck, and six long 26-pounders and some 
light guns on the forecastle and quarter-deck. 

The work for which the squadron had been patiently prepar- 
ing during the past ten months had come at last, and they went 
at it with ferocious energy. 

Owing to a violent gale which raged for many days they were 
unable to make their first attack before August 4th, on which 
date the whole fleet stood in to point-blank range of the batteries 
and shipping. The six gunboats then advanced to attack the 
Tripolitan gunboats, twenty-one of which had come outside in 
three divisions. The action began by a bomb-vessel throwing 
a shell into the town, and lasted about two hours, when the ships 
were compelled to haul off by a change of wind. 

The furious charge of the small vessels upon three and a half 



" OLD IRONSIDES " 67 

times their number soon undeceived the Tripolitans, who had 
come out in the belief that the Americans would not fight. The 
conflicts were like the traditional old sea-fights, hand to hand on 
the decks of the enemy, who fought desperately enough when 
boarded by the Americans, but were driven back into the harbor 
with severe loss in killed and wounded. Three of their gunboats 
were brought away with fifty-two prisoners, some of whom died 
of their wounds; forty- four had been killed outright before the 
boats were surrendered. The American vessels had suffered only 
slightly in killed and Vv'ounded. James Decatur, brother of 
Lieutenant Stephen, was treacherously killed in the act of board- 
ing a Tripolitan that had surrendered to him. The Constitution 
fired 262 round shot, beside grape, double-head, and canister. 
She received some damage in her rigging and sails from the 
Tripolitan fire, and a 24-pound shot struck her mainmast, but the 
squadron came out with remarkably little injury considering the 
serious nature of the action and the effect accomplished. 

The stubborn nature of the fighting is shown by two stories 
told in the footnotes of the Naval Chronicle. Decatur boarded a 
gunboat, it is said, to avenge his brother's death. He made 
straight for her commander, a gigantic Turk, greatly his superior 
in size and strength, and in the struggle which ensued broke his 
sword. The two seized each other in a violent scuffle, in which 
Decatur was thrown. The Turk drew a dagger to stab him, but 
he managed to get hold of a pistol which he had in the right- 
hand pocket of his trousers. By twisting it around and cocking 
it inside the pocket he succeeded in firing it and killing his an- 
tagonist. During the struggle one of the Tripolitans rushed 
forward to save his captain, and aimed a blow at Decatur's head, 
but a young man by the name of Reuben James, who had lost 
the use of his arms by severe wounds, threw his body forward 
and took the blow intended for Decatur on his own head. He 



68 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

lived to receive a pension from the government thirty years later. 

Lieutenant Trippe, with Midshipman Henley and nine men, 
boarded one of the gunboats manned by thirty-six men. Against 
desperate resistance he captured the boat, after having killed 
fourteen Tripolitans and taken twenty- two prisoners. Trippe 
received eleven saber wounds, but not an American was killed. 

In his report Commodore Preble speaks in tlie highest terms 
of Decatur and Trippe and of all the officers and crews. Yet 
he was greatly disappointed at not having destroyed the whole 
fleet. There is a story that when Decatur came over the side, 
he walked joyfully up to Preble on the quarter-deck and said, 
''Well, Commodore, I have brought you out three of the gun- 
boats." Preble turned on him like a flash, and, taking him by 
the collar replied, " Aye, sir, but why did you not bring me out 
more " and then stalked into his cabin. However, he sent for 
Decatur in a few mJnutes and made ample amends for his rage 
and injustice, and they were always warm friends afterwards. 

On the evening of August 7th, as the squadron was hauling 
off from another attack, the John Adams, Captain Chauncey, ap- 
peared, just out from the United States with the news that the 
government had decided to send out several frigates under com- 
mand of Commodore Samuel Barron, who was to supersede 
Preble. 

Preble waited eleven days for the appearance of his successor 
and then concluded to make another attack, but a northeast gale 
forced him to stand off the coast for greater safety. After four 
days of buffeting in a hea\y sea, the ships stood in again and 
anchored six miles from Tripoli. 

On August loth, the Dey indicated a disposition to treat, by 
permitting a white flag to be hoisted by the French Consul, but 
the terms offered, a ransom of $500 for each captive and no 
tribute for terminating the war, were not satisfactory to Preble, 



" OLD IRONSIDES " 6g 

in spite of the tremendous reduction over any of the previous 
terms. He authorized the French Consul to offer $100,000 in a 
lump sum, but this was not acceptable to the Dey. 

On the 24th, the squadron bombarded the town from 2 a.m. 
until daylight, but little damage was done. One shell passed 
through the wall of the prison and struck the bed in which Cap- 
tain Eainbridge was sleeping. A heap of stones and mortar 
fell on him, but he escaped with only slight injury. 

After several days of unfavorable weather, the ships moved in 
on the night of the 28th, prepared for another early morning 
attack. Of this Preble wrote in his report to the Secretary of the 
Navy: " We fired upwards of three hundred round shot, besides 
grape and canister, into the town. Bashaw's Castle, and batteries. 
We silenced the castle and two of the batteries for some time. 
At a quarter past six, the gunboats being all out of shot, I hauled 
off, after having been three quarters of an hour in close ac- 
tion. A large Tunisian galliot was sunk in the mole. . . . The 
Tripoline galleys and gunboats lost many men and were much 
cut." 

Again on September 3rd, the bomb-vessels and the Constitution 
attacked the town and batteries, the action lasting about an hour 
in the afternoon, when the wind shifted to the northward and be- 
gan increasing. The squadron was accordingly withdrawn, having 
disabled a number of the enemy's galleys and gunboats, and 
thrown a number of shells into the batteries and town. 

On the night of September 4th the disaster occurred which will 
always envelope the end of the Intrepid in melancholy mystery. 
Commodore Preble had been contemplating for some time the 
possibility of sending a fire-ship into the harbor to destroy the 
enemy's shipping. Richard Somers, the Commander of the Nau- 
tilus, volunteered for the service, and for several days directed 
the preparation of the Intrepid. One hundred barrels of powder 



70 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

were placed below her deck, upon which one hundred and fifty 
fixed shells were arranged. A fuse calculated to burn fifteen min- 
utes was led aft to a box filled with combustibles. The intention 
was to take the ketch into the harbor on the first dark night that 
afforded a favorable breeze, and to explode her among the ship- 
ping. Two swift boats were carried in tow to provide for the 
escape of the crew, consisting of Captain Somers and four men 
from the Nautilus, with Lieutenants Henry Wadsworth and 
Joseph Israel, and six men from the Constitution, At eight 
o'clock, the Intrepid was under sail, and was last seen standing 
into the harbor about a musket shot from the mole; then her 
sails were swallowed up in the darkness. Soon afterward, the 
batteries, which had taken alarm, began firing in all directions 
from which danger might be apprehended. To those waiting out- 
side there was but a short period of breathless suspense, then, 
before the Intrepid could possibly have reached her intended 
position, there was a blinding flash, followed by a frightful con- 
cussion which shook even the American ships outside and awed 
the batteries into silence. For one instant the mast and sails 
outlined in fire, were lifted into the air and then fell back into 
darkness. The three ships Argus, Vixen, and Nautilus which 
had accompanied the Intrepid to the entrance of the harbor, 
waited there all night, their crews listening in vain for the oars 
of the returning boats. These last never came back, and from 
that day to this the cause of the explosion has been a matter of 
conjecture. Commodore Preble believed that the ketch was in- 
tercepted by some gunboats which were seen lurking near the 
rocks at sunset. His theory was that they suddenly boarded her 
without suspecting her to be a fire-ship, and that Somers, pre- 
ferring death to surrender and failure, put a match to the maga- 
zine. He based this belief upon the known determination of 
Somers and his officers neither to be taken nor to let the powder 



''OLD IRONSIDES" 71 

and shot fall into the hands of the enemy, and upon the disap- 
pearance of one of the enemy's largest gunboats. Whatever hap- 
pened, the name of Somers will always remain a watchword in 
the Navy, and a symbol of the self-renunciation and devotion 
which ennoble humanity. 

Thus ended the war, for there were no more attacks. 

On the loth of September the frigates President and Constella- 
tion made their appearance, and Commodore Barron took com- 
mand. 

The relief of Commodore Preble was not intended as a reflec- 
tion upon him, althought it did look like ingratitude to supersede 
him and to give his successor four additional frigates just as he 
" had licked the Dey into shape for a reasonable peace." That 
he felt it seriously is shown by his journal, but he never made any 
complaint. News traveled slowly in those days; and the relief 
ships had been commissioned in consequence of the loss of the 
Philadelphia months before the result of the blockade was known. 
Congress voted Preble the nation's thanks and a gold medal, 
emblematic of the attacks on the town, batteries, and naval force 
of Tripoli, and the Secretary of the Navy wrote him a letter ex- 
pressing unqualified approbation of his work. 

On the 14th of September the Constitution proceeded to Malta, 
and there Preble left her, to the heartfelt regret of everybody in 
the squadron. 

Decatur, who had been promoted to captain in recognition of 
his gallant exploit in destroying the Philadelphia, was transferred 
to the command of the Cojtstitution, but on November 6th, he 
exchanged with Rodgers, who was his senior, to the Congress, a 
smaller ship. Commodore Barron being forced by illness to leave 
the squadron, Rodgers, on I\Iay 22nd, succeeded to the chief com- 
mand, making the Constitution his flagship. In her cabin was 
drawn up a treaty by which the tribute to Tripoli ceased, peace 



72 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

was declared without indemnity, and the American captives were 
surrendered on the payment of $60,000. The treaty was signed on 
June 3, 1805, and salutes were exchanged between the Constitu- 
tion and the batteries on shore. 

In the meantime the Bey of Tunis had been threatening trouble 
unless certain ships which had been captured while running the 
blockade were forthwith returned. Commodore Rodgers there- 
fore moved down with nearly the whole of his fleet and anchored 
off Tunis on August ist. After certain dilatory negotiations last- 
ing two weeks, Rodgers wrote the following in a letter to the 
Consul General: "He (the Bey) must do one of three things, by 
simple request, or else do all three by force. He must give the 
guarantee already required, or, he must give sufficient security for 
peace and send a minister to the United States, or he must make 
such alterations in the treaty as you may require, and as may 
satisfy you that there is confidence to be placed in what he 
does. 

" I have only to repeat that if he does not do all that is 
necessary and proper, at the risk of my conduct being disapproved 
by my country he shall feel the vengeance of the squadron now in 
the bay." 

This startling departure from the timid and feeble foreign 
policy of the United States during its first ten years produced 
its effect, and a treaty was signed with Tunis ending tribute 
forever. The active operations in the Mediterranean ended with 
this incident, and our merchant ships were never afterwards 
molested. 

Commodore Rodgers returned home in May, 1806; giving up 
the command of the Constitution to Capt. Hugh G. Campbell, 
who kept her cruising from port to port another year. 

During Jefferson's administration there was a mania for the 
construction of small gunboats for coast defense. Nothing could 



'' OLD IRONSIDES " 73 

have been more wasteful, and it should have been known from 
the ineffectiveness of the Tripolitan gunboats against the Con- 
stitution that such craft were of no use whatever in case of a 
blockade. About 257 vessels of this description were built, and 
in the war which followed a few years later they were permitted 
to rot well out of reach of British cruisers. Events were shaping 
themselves rapidly, and the time was fast approaching when the 
Constitution was in one battle to do more to give us national pride, 
to teach foreign respect for American arms, and to turn Congress 
towards correct theories of the country's defense, than an entire 
navy of gunboats could ever have done. 

The Constitution arrived in Boston in the fall of 1807, but 
was ordered to New York, where she was dismantled for repairs 
and lay for nearly two years. In August, 1809, her old com- 
mander, John Rodgers, took her as his flagship in the home 
squadron ; but a year later he transferred his flag to the President 
in the belief that she was the faster ship, and turned over the 
Constitution to Isaac Hull, who had been her first lieutenant 
in the race with the English frigate. 

At that time there was a tendency to overload the ships with 
guns, and when Hull took command of the Constitution she car- 
ried on her gun-deck thirty long 24-pounders, on her quarter- 
deck sixteen 3 2 -pounder carronades, and on her forecastle two 
long bow chasers and six 3 2 -pounder carronades. She was a very 
wet ship when going on the wind, and rode heavily at her 
anchors. 

The year 18 10 was spent cruising on the home station. In 
the spring of 181 1 she went to Annapolis for the purpose of con- 
veying the new Minister to France across the Atlantic, as also 
money to pay the interest on the Dutch debt. Mr. Joel Barlow 
kept her waiting in Annapolis Roads from May until August, when 
he arrived on board with his wife and her sister Miss Baldwin. 



74 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

They sailed on August ist, and had a very pleasant voyage of 
five weeks to Cherbourg. 

This port was blockaded by a strong British squadron, and 
there seemed to be some disposition to retard the Constitution, 
but Captain Hull refused to hearken to the British Commodore's 
request that he delay his entry into the harbor, explaining that 
the American Minister to France was on board and he felt it his 
duty to get into port as soon as the weather permitted. 

The times were critical. British ships were everywhere, and the 
whole French coast was under blockade. The growing irritation 
which was shortly to break out into war did not promote friendli- 
ness between the sailors of the two nations. 

Leaving Cherbourg September 12 th, the Constitution pro- 
ceeded to the Texel, where the specie was landed. She then 
returned for Mr. Russell, who was to be carried across the Chan- 
nel to his new post at London. While entering Cherbourg some of 
the British blockading ships beat up the harbor with her thereby 
drawing the fire of the French batteries. 

On November nth, she sailed for Portsmouth with Mr. Rus- 
sell and a number of passengers, all of whom were landed safely 
the next day. Captain Hull accompanied them to London for 
a short visit, leaving Lieut. Charles Morris in temporary com- 
mand. During the captain's absence the following singular 
incident occurred. Very late in the evening of November 13th, a 
boat came alongside from the English frigate Havannah, and an 
officer informed Lieutenant Morris that a deserter from the Con- 
stitution had just swum off to his ship. Mr. Morris thanked him 
and said that the man would be sent for in the morning. But 
when this was done the Captain of the Havannah refused to give 
the man up without an order from the Admiral, Sir Roger Curtis. 
The lieutenant then waited on the admiral and made a formal 
demand for the deserter's surrender. The admiral informed 



" OLD IRONSIDES " 75 

him that the man had claimed protection as a British subject, 
and said that he must therefore be retained. A few nights later 
Mr. Morris was awakened by the discharge of a sentry's musket 
and the cries of a man in the water near the ship. When taken 
on board he proved to be a deserter from the Havannah, but de- 
clared himself an American. As IVIr. Morris says in his biography : 
" This was sufficient. A boat was immediately sent to the Ha- 
vannah to reciprocate the politeness of the preceding evening, and 
the next morning we had the satisfaction of assigning the same 
reason and the same testimony for refusing a demand for his 
restitution from the captain and admiral." 

Returning again to Cherbourg, Mr. Morris was sent up to 
Paris for despatches from Mr. Barlow to the home government. 
He was detained there six weeks, and we find a very interesting 
glimpse of Napoleon and official Paris during this time in his 
autobiography. He met La Fayette, Kosciusko, and many sur- 
vivors of the French Revolution. Early in January he was back 
on board ship, and sailed for home on the loth, anchoring off 
Old Point Comfort after a very stormy passage of forty days. 
Late in March the ship was taken to the Navy Yard at Washing- 
ton for a thorough overhauling. 

On June 18, 181 2, war was declared against England, and 
three days later the Constitution left Washington with orders 
to proceed to New York and join the squadron of Commodore 
Rodgers. Captain Hull commanded her, and Charles Morris was 
again her first lieutenant. On the 25th of June she was at the 
mouth of the Potomac, and on the 28th at anchor off Annapolis, 
for greater convenience to Baltimore where men and stores could 
be obtained. On July 12th she passed out between the capes, and 
five days after putting to sea had the memorable escape from the 
British Squadron already described in the notes from Commodore 
Morrises autobiography. It was a relief to many people when the 



76 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Constitution, after twenty-two days at sea, anchored just outside 
of Boston harbor. The following notice, which was inserted in 
the Exchange Coffee-House books by Captain Hull, forms a fit- 
ting termination of this episode: 

" Captain Hull, finding his friends in Boston are correctly in- 
formed of his situation when chased by the British squadron off 
New York, and that they are good enough to give him more 
credit by escaping them than he ought to claim, takes this oppor- 
tunity of requesting them to make a transfer of a great part of 
their good wishes to Lt. Morris and the other brave officers, 
and the crew under his command, for their very great exer- 
tions and prompt attention to orders while the enemy were in 
chase." 

On August 2nd, Captain Hull again put to sea, and after cap- 
turing several British merchantmen, sighted a British frigate, 
which proved to be the Guerricre. Of tliis fight we have already 
spoken, and of how Lieutenant IMorris, in endeavoring to pass a 
lashing around the Guerricre' s bowsprit was shot through the body 
and fell over on the deck. When the Constitution wore around 
her bow the Giierriere was practically helpless, for immediately 
after they separated, the foremast and mainmast went by the 
board and left her an unmanageable wreck rolling her main- 
deck guns under water. Finding his case hopeless the British cap- 
tain (Captain Dacres) struck his flag. 

The Guerricre lost 15 killed and 62, wounded, as against 7 
killed and 7 wounded on the American side. There was no com- 
parison in the damage inflicted; one ship was practically de- 
stroyed, while the other was ready for another chase a few hours 
afterwards. The Constitution is said to have obtained her ap- 
pellation, '' Old Ironsides," during this fight. A seaman noticed 
a shot strike the side and fall back into the sea, and shouted, 
" Hurrah, her sides are made of iron." Finding it impossible to 



'' OLD IRONSIDES " 77 

tow the Guerricre into port, Captain Hull gave orders to burn her. 

Captain Hull and his officers were received in Boston with open 
arms. A dinner in their honor was given at Faneuil Hall on 
September 5th. It must have been interminable, for seventeen 
toasts were drunk. Among them were the following: The Ameri- 
can Nation. . . . Our Infant Nav>\ . . . The Victory we Cele- 
brate. . . . No Entangling Alliances. . . . 

Fifty thousand dollars prize money was voted by Congress 
for the officers and men, a gold medal commemorating the action 
for Captain Hull and silver medals for the other officers. 

The surprise and gloom produced in England over the dis- 
aster to their arms was equaled only by the inability to explain 
it. When other victories followed, the despair of the British 
nation was pitiful. They simply could not understand that they 
were fighting against people of the same blood and sea traditions, 
who had acquired extraordinary readiness and resource by nearly 
two centuries of warfare against the wilderness. 

On September 15th Commodore William Bainbridge hoisted his 
broad pennant aboard the Cojtstitution, and sailed on October 
27th, in company with the Hornet, for southern waters. During 
that cruise he intercepted and captured the British frigate Java, 
on her way to India carrying men for distribution in the fleet. 

On January 6th the Constitution sailed for home, leaving the 
Hornet to watch the British sloop-of-war Bonne Citoyenne, bottled 
up in the harbor of San Salvador. 

Bainbridge reached Boston on the last day of February, and he 
was there saluted by the cheers of his countrymen. Congress 
passed a vote of thanks and ordered the usual gold and silver 
medals to be struck off, and an additional $50,000 appropriated 
for the destruction of the Java. 

After undergoing repairs at the Boston Yard, the Constitution 
sailed on the last day of 1813, under Capt. Charles Stewart, for 



78 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

a cruise to the southward and eastward. This cruise was filled 
with disappointment to the men, as they were constantly chasing 
ships only to find them American merchantmen; but they man- 
aged to capture several prizes in the West Indies on their way 
home. Reaching Boston in April, 1814, the Constitution lay there 
for eight and a half months, while the British blockading squadron, 
consisting of the 50-gun frigate Newcastle, the 40-gun frigate 
Acasta, and the i8-gun brig sloop Arab, lay outside. Finding that. 
on December i6th, the Newcastle and Acasta had, for some 
unexplained reason, proceeded to Cape Cod, Captain Stewart, 
taking advantage of the opportunity, put to sea on December 
iStli, and succeeded in getting entirely clear of the land without 
molestation. Eight days out, near the Bermudas, she over- 
hauled the British m.erchant ship, Lord Nelson, parted from her 
convoy, in distress, and placed a prize crew on board of her. 
On February 8th, off the coast of Portugal, Captain Stewart spoke 
the bark Julia, fifteen days out from Cork, under Hamburg colors, 
and learned that peace had been signed at Ghent. 

Such news did not dampen the ardor of our seamen for one 
more good fight, and the ship headed leisurely down the coast in 
search of a proper antagonist; but they were doomed to dis- 
appointment in that locality, and with extreme dejection both 
officers and men saw the cruise ending without an important cap- 
ture. By one of those strange premonitions which sometimes 
come to men, Captain Stewart one morning assured them that 
they would meet the enemy before sunset the next day. He 
headed for the Madeiras once more, and to the great delight of all 
on board, his prediction was fulfilled. 

On the afternoon of February 20, 1815, at one o'clock, a sail 
was sighted two points off the port bow. The Constitution was 
in latitude ^^° 44' N .and longitude 14° 39' W, on a course be- 
tween south and southwest, with a moderate breeze from the 



'^ OLD IRONSIDES " 79 

northeast. She immediately gave chase, and soon brought a large 
ship into plain view. Shortly afterwards, another sail was dis- 
covered somewhat to the westward of the first. Both were stand- 
ing to the northward with their starboard tacks on board. The 
nearest was the British frigate-built ship Cyane^ Capt. Gordon 
Thomas Falcon, and the other, the ship-sloop Levant, Capt. the 
Hon. George Douglas. At four o'clock the Cyane made sail before 
the v/ind to join her consort, and to enable her commander to 
consult with Captain Douglas, who was his senior. In the mean- 
time the Constitution was bearing down upon them under stud- 
ding-sails. At half-past four her main royal mast carried away, 
and she lost some distance while getting up a new mast. She 
began firing her bow guns at the Cyane about five o'clock, but 
the shot fell short. The two British ships were endeavoring to 
gain to windward of the Constitution, but, failing to do so, were 
forced into action within supporting distance of each other just 
after sunset. About six o'clock they ran up red English ensigns 
and formed in a line with the wind on the starboard beam, the 
Levant being two or three ship's lengths in advance. The Con- 
stitution hoisted her colors, and at five minutes past six invited the 
contest by firing a shot between the two ships. She was at that 
time only three hundred yards on the starboard side of the Cyane 
and slowly passing her. Broadsides v/ere exchanged immediately, 
and for fifteen minutes a very hot action ensued. The sea was 
covered with a light mist, and the moon came out, while dense 
masses of smoke formed to leeward of each ship. When it 
finally cleared away from the Constitution she found herself 
abreast of the Levant with the Cyane lufiing up astern to deliver 
a raking broadside. Captain Stewart quickly fired a broadside 
into the Levant; then, hidden in the smoke of his own guns, 
braced the after sails aback and went astern enough to pour a 
h.e3Lvy fire into the Cyane. As the Levant wore to come back to 



8o OLD NAVAL DAYS 

her companion's assistance, the Constitution's sails were again 
filled; she shot ahead and fired two broadsides into the stern 
of the Levant as she was turning. Captain Falcon, seeing the 
extremely hazardous position of the latter, gallantly stood in 
between the two ships to take this fire, and Captain Douglas im- 
mediately drew out of the combat with his braces gone and his 
ship badly cut up. The Cyane now attempted to go off before the 
wind, but the Constitution wore short around and gave her a 
raking fire over the stern. As she luffed up and fired her port 
broadside, Stewart placed his ship within hail on her port quarter, 
where he held her practically at his mercy. Finding the case hope- 
less. Captain Falcon fired a gun to leeward and hoisted a light 
in token of surrender, just forty minutes after the first broad- 
side had been fired. His ship was hulled a number of times be- 
tween wind and water, five carronades had broken loose, much 
of the rigging was gone, the main and mizzen-masts were in 
danger of falling over the side, and many of his men were dis- 
abled. 

Perceiving that the Cyane had struck. Captain Douglas at- 
tempted to run, but it was too late. His wheel had been shot 
away, and his lower masts had been badly injured. After a 
chase of half an hour he surrendered, and Lieutenant Ballard 
was sent to take possession. Lieutenant Hoffman was already on 
board the Cyane with a small crew. 

This battle is noted for the splendid seamanship of the 
Americans and the gallant behavior of the English. Captain 
Stewart had succeeded, by running and backing from one ship 
to the other, in fighting each separately, and in preventing his 
own ship from being raked. There is nothing finer in our 
annals. 

This was the last great fight of the '' Old Ironsides," as it was 
the last frigate action of the war. 



"OLD IRONSIDES" 8i 

The success of the War of 1812 cannot be credited to one 
frigate, yet the Constitution absorbed the largest amount of at- 
tention as she did by far the greatest damage to British armed 
ships upon the sea. 

Being in need of extensive repairs, the old frigate underwent 
a period of enforced idleness, lasting about six years, sailing 
again in May, 182 1, under command of Capt. Jacob Jones for 
service as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron. It was dur- 
ing this cruise, in 1822, that Lord Byron paid her a visit. 

In the fall of 1823, the Constitution was back in Boston for a 
new crew, sailing in October, 1824, under Capt. Thomas Mac- 
donough, to join the Mediterranean Squadron, then shortly to be 
commanded by Commodore John Rodgers, " whose strong hand 
and rigid discipline would," the Secretary of the Navy was con- 
vinced, ''' restore the moral tone and put an end to the brawls 
and fighting of duels, as well as to the general dissipation then 
rife amongst the officers of the Mediterranean fleet." 

Shortly after reaching Boston in 1828, the Constitution was 
'' surveyed and reported unseaworthy " and orders were given by 
the Secretary of the Navy that she should be broken up and 
sold. 

" A ship with a fighting record unequaled in the service," writes 
Hollis, '' the Constitution was also said to be proverbially lucky, 
and so it proved on this occasion." 

Seeing in a newspaper one morning that she was to be de- 
stroyed by order of the Navy Department, Oliver Wendell 
Holmes, who had just completed his twenty-first year, seized a 
pen and dashed off the following well-known lines: 

" Ay, tear her tattered ensign down ! 
Long has it waved on high, 
And many an eye has danced to see 
That banner in the sky; 



82 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Beneath it rang the battle shout, 
And burst the cannon's roar ; 
The meteor of the ocean air 
Shall sweep the clouds no more. 



" Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, 
Where knelt the vanquished foe, 
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood 
And waves were white below, 
No more shall feel the victor's tread. 
Or know the conquered knee ; 
The harpies of the shore shall pluck 
The Eagle of the Sea. 



" Oh, better that her shattered hulk 
Should sink beneath the wave ; 
Her thunders shook the mighty deep 
And there should be her grave ; 
Nail to the mast her holy flag, 
Set every threadbare sail. 
And give her to the god of storms, 
The lightning and the gale." 



" This poem, with the title * Old Ironsides/ was first published 
in the Boston Advertiser, and was quickly copied by all the news- 
papers in the country. It was even printed on handbills and 
circulated in the streets of Washington. Public sentiment was 
irresistibly aroused. The Navy Department's order was imme- 
diately revoked. Congress appropriated the necessary money to 
rebuild her, practically without alteration of the original model. 
On June 24, 1833, she was placed in the new dry dock just com- 
pleted at the Boston Navy Yard, and there became virtually a 
new ship." 

" We can never estimate at too high a value," continues 



" OLD IRONSIDES " 83 

Hollis,^ *' the education received upon her decks by the sailors who 
afterwards did most to promote the healthy growth of the Navy. 
She carried our flag with dignity and honor until our Navy was 
made up of steamers. In these days when machinery has re- 
placed sails, and man has become independent of wind and tide 
our Country can well afford to preserve the old ship as the home 
of departed glory." 

But long ere this controversy had been settled officers and 
crew of the Constitutmi had scattered, and Midshipman William 
Radford had been heartily welcomed home to St. Louis by his 
family and many friends. 

^ Hollis : " The Frigate Constitution." 



CHAPTER VI 
BACK IN ST. LOUIS 

"Ever the center of hospitality was the home of Governor 
Clark," writes Mrs. Dye, who had access to all the family papers, 
and who gives the following characteristic picture of the Clark 
home: " Both the Governor and lis wife enjoyed life, took things 
in leisurely fashion; both had the magnetic faculty of winning 
people, and they set a splendid table." Under such conditions 
the Governor's wish that he " might always see his house full," 
was not difficult of realization. There were no modern hotels in 
those days, and the Governor's residence became a stopping place 
for all noted visitors to St. Louis. 

We may therefore readily imagine that it was a gay and cheer- 
ful household to which William Radford returned after his long 
absence, and he was warmly welcomed by them all. His mother 
hailed with deepest joy the arrival of her sailor son; and his 
stepfather, whose liking for the impulsive boy had ever been 
most sincere, received him gladly. 

His former playmate Meriwether Lewis Clark, was then a 
cadet at West Point; but there were at home his younger step- 
brother George Rogers Clark, beside his own sister Mary, who was 
then sixteen, and his thirteen-year-old brother John. (Julius, 
General Clark's third son by his first marriage, did not live to 
man's estate, and is buried in the family vault at Fotheringay.) 
In addition to these there was a half-brother, Jefferson Kearny 
Clark, born February 29, 1824, the uncle whom I visited in after 

84 



BACK IN ST. LOUIS 85 

years in St. Louis, and whom I knew as one of the dearest and 
most lovable of men. 

Many a trip did the Clarks' old-fashioned coach, with footman 
up behind, make to and from the levee, bringing and taking dis- 
tinguished strangers, who all came with letters to the Superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs, without a pass from whom they could 
pursue their journey no farther. Longer trips than these were 
likewise made, for my grandmother was very fond of the White 
Sulphur Springs, and spent many summers there, driving thither 
from St. Louis in her four-horse coach. My father often spoke 
of having, when a boy, accompanied his mother upon several of 
these lengthy expeditions. 

In 1826 Jefferson Barracks had been established near St. 
Louis, and the pretty girls of the town did their share toward 
reconciling the " milletoers," as the Creoles called them, to life at 
the frontier post. A new '' milletoer " direct from Europe must 
have created quite a little excitement among them. 

All family traditions point to the fact that the young mid- 
shipman entered with great entrain into the gay social life of the 
western town, but on the other hand, the vast plains with their 
wealth of fauna would doubless attract him greatly after the 
confining life on shipboard. From his own account we know that 
during that stay and later ones in St. Louis he had many long 
talks with his stepfather. General Clark, from whose lips he 
heard inner details of that great expedition, " which as time 
passes will be found to be hardly surpassed in interest by any 
like ventures before or since, even including Stanley's and Living- 
stone's African explorations." 

On August 10, 1829, Midshipman Radford received orders to 
join the sloop-of-war Erie at Norfolk, Va., preparatory to making 
a cruise in the West Indies. The ship did not sail until Novem- 
ber, and some time during the interim — as is shown by later 



86 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

correspondence — he visited his uncle William Radford II, and 
other of his relatives both in Bedford County and in Richmond, 
Virginia. 

In a report to the Secretary of the Navy, the Hon. John 
Branch, dated November i, 1829, David Conner, then captain 
of the Erie, writes: " I have been prevented from sailing by a 
gale of wind from N.E. until this morning. I am now outside of 
the lighthouse, and I shall make every exertion to reach La Vera 
Cruz as soon as possible." Again on November 7th, Captain 
Conner reports from Port au Prince: " I am now on a cruise to 
the Windward Islands and Spanish Main, and shall leave this 
port in a few hours. My officers are all well." 

David Conner was born in Harrisburg, Pa., 1792, and became a 
midshipman January 16, 1809. As acting lieutenant he took part 
in the battle between the U. S. S. Hornet and H. B. M. S. Pea- 
cock, February 24, 1813; and in the action between the U. S. S. 
Hornet and H. B. M. S. Penguin, INIarch 23, 1815, in which latter 
engagement he was wounded. He was Commodore Commanding 
Home Squadron in the war with Mexico, 1846, and was included 
in thanks of Congress for gallant action in capturing the Peacock 
and Penguin, being awarded a medal for each. He was also in- 
cluded in thanks of President and Congress to officers of the 
Navy for services in war with Mexico. 

Under date of December i, 1829, we read: " The Naval force 
under command of Commodore Ridgely ordered to cruise on the 
West India Station consisted ... of the sloops Falmouth, 
Hornet, Erie and Natchez, and schooners Grampus and Shark. '' 

This cruise, beginning November ist, lasted a year and one 
month, so that William Radford would not have been at home at 
the time of his sister's wedding, which took place at the Clarks' 
country estate on September 5, 1830. 

Mary Radford, who was then eighteen j^ears of age, married 




GENERAL WILLIAM CLARK 

Territorial Governor of Missouri 
(of The Lewis and Clark Expedition) 



BACK IN ST. LOUIS 87 

Major (later General) Stephen Watts Kearny, " a gallant, in- 
telligent, and energetic officer, who had served through the war 
of 1 81 2, and who gave every promise of rising to high distinction 
should opportunity offer itself." ^ 

After the wedding, which was quite an event in the St. Louis 
social world, the bride and groom left immediately for Fort 
Leavenworth, where Major Kearny was then stationed; and 
there, during two years and more, Mrs. Kearny never beheld a 
single white woman — an instance of the conditions of life in 
those days. 

On March 3, 1831, William Radford became a Passed ^lid- 
shipman, and was ordered to the Philadelphia Na\y Yard, which 
he left the following September on a six months' leave of ab- 
sence. This was succeeded by a year's furlough, during which 
time he is said to have been seriously considering the question 
of entering the Army, being influenced thereto by the general 
stagnation of naval affairs, as well as by family associations and 
traditions and his own love for the freedom of the plains . 

However this may be, and whatever may have been the cause 
of his long stay in the West, we see by this that he was at home 
at the time of his beloved mother's death, which occurred but a 
little over a year after her daughter's wedding. 

About my grandmother's going hence there was a tragic circum- 
stance which is very graphically narrated by Mrs. Dye. 

During the summer of 1831 there appeared in St. Louis four 
strange Indians, worn and bewildered by their long journey from 
the far West. They came asking for the " Red Head Chief," and 
were immediately shown to General Clark's Indian office. Recog- 
nizing instantly the tunic and bandeau of foxskins as the tribal 
dress of the Flathead Indians, General Clark received them gladly, 
and listened in amazement as old " Black Eagle " and his com- 

1 J. Madison Cutts : " Conquest of California.'* 



88 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

panions told of having travelled on foot nearly two thousand 
miles expressly to see him. They had come from Oregon, and 
their story was as follows: Some winters earlier an American 
trapper, in watching their braves dance around the sun-pole on 
the present site of Walla Walla, had told them that what they 
were doing was not right, that such worship was " not acceptable 
to the Great Spirit, and that they should get the white man's 
book of Heaven." 

Disturbed and bewildered the Indians talked the matter over 
around their council fires, and decided that if they could only 
find Lewis and Clark they would learn the truth about the 
matter. 

" They went out by the Lolo trail into the buffalo country 
of Montana," say their descendants still living in Idaho. 

General Clark remembered perfectly the hospitality of his 
Nez-Perce- Flathead friends, who had offered Lewis and himself 
the pick of their finest horses, and immediately promised that 
whatever he could do for them should certainly now be done. 

" A teacher shall be sent out with the Book," he assured them. 

With his usual kindly hospitality he invited them into his own 
house and to his table, and Mrs. Clark we are told, " devoted 
herself to their entertainment." 

But " just as change of diet and climate had prostrated Lewis 
and Clark with sickness among the Nez Perces twenty-five years 
before, so now the Nez Perces fell sick in St. Louis. The summer 
was hotter than any they had known in their cool northland. 
Dr. Farrar, the Clarks' own physician, was called, while Mrs. 
Clark herself waited upon them, bringing tliem water and medi- 
cine as they lay burning with fever in the Council House. They 
were very grateful to '' the beautiful Squaw of the Red Head 
Chief," but neither medicine nor nursing could save the aged 
" Black Eagle," whose name is recorded in the St. Louis Cathedral 



BACK IN ST. LOUIS 89 

as: " Keepeelele, buried October 31, 1831/' a "Nez Perces de la 
tribu des Choponeek, nation appellee Tete Plate." 

" Ten days after the burial of Black Eagle, Colonel Audrain 
of St. Charles, a member of the Legislature, also died at General 
Clark's house." 

There were no Red Cross nurses in those days, and my grand- 
mother attended to all those fever-stricken people herself, doubt- 
less under conditions which would horrify the splendidly equipped 
sanitation corps of today. The result was inevitable. She herself 
was taken down by this strange malady, which, by the ensuing 
spring had developed into the dreaded Asiatic cholera, and on 
Christmas Day, 1831, she who had so faithfully tended others 
was herself taken from this world. 

William Radford, whose leave dated from the previous Sep- 
tember, must have been with his mother during the last months 
of her life, and doubtless often accompanied her upon her er- 
rands of mercy to the Council Hall. Of her ^' going hence " he 
could never bring himself to speak, but, once she had left this 
world he found himself united in bonds of closer sympathy than 
ever before to the brave and courtly gentleman of whom, in his 
boyhood days, he had been so childishly and unreasonably 
jealous — for that is the only plausible justification of his con- 
duct at the time of his mother's marriage to General Clark. 



CHAPTER VII 
VARIED EXPERIENCES 

'' That we have no letters or correspondence of my father's of 
that date is without doubt due to the fact of his mother's early- 
taking from this world, and also because there was no one with 
her who was especially interested in preserving the letters which 
she must, of course, have received from her son. Her daughter 
was living at Fort Leavenworth, and even had she been in St. 
Louis, Mrs. Kearny was not one who would have cared to pre- 
serve old letters, even had they been from her brother William, 
whom she fairly idolized. 

Because of this the data concerning the next few years of 
William Radford's life are exceedingly meager. In February, 
1834, he v/as ordered to the receiving ship Sea Gull, at Philadel- 
phia. She was an altered Brooklyn ferryboat from the East 
River, half the size of those now in use, but had done good service 
in aiding to exterminate piracy in the West India Archipelago 
under the command of Commodore David Porter, father of the 
illustrious Admiral of the American Navy. From Philadelphia 
he went, in June of the same year, to the John Adams as Acting 
Master, and in the latter ship again to the Mediterranean, under 
the command of Capt. David Connor, with whom, as already seen, 
he had served in the West Indies. 

This cruise proved to be an unfortunate one for him, as a 
letter from the ship's surgeon, dated, " Toulon, November 7, 
1834," shows that "Master Wm. Radford" was suffering from 
an attack of cholera, complicated by a " pulmonary affection which 

90 



VARIED EXPERIENCES 91 

left him much debilitated," and it was recommended that he be 
allowed to leave the ship ^' and reside at Montpelier or some 
other healthy situation in the South of France; with orders, in 
case of his restoration to health to rejoin the squadron in the 
spring; " in the contrary case he was to "take passage to the 
W. Indies, or Southern part of the U. States." 

His returning home via New Orleans, and being still in that 
city in the month of January, 1836, would appear to indicate that 
his health had not been completely restored. 

In October of that year he was staying in Lynchburg, Va., at 
the home of his uncle William Radford, with whom he was 
always on terms of affectionate intimacy. (In his boyhood the 
White Sulphur Springs had been a place of well-nigh yearly 
family reunion, where he had become well acquainted with his 
Virginia relatives, whom he later frequently visited.) 

On February 9, 1837, William Radford was appointed to a 
lieutenancy in the Na\y, and the following September received 
orders to report to Commodore Dallas at Pensacola, Fla., for duty 
in the West India Squadron. 

In a record of the battles in which he had taken part, I find 
the following in my father's handwriting: " Was engaged in the 
Florida war. Assisted in capturing many Indians at Tampa 
Bay." 

The State of Georgia had, in 1802, ceded portions of tiie 
present States of Alabama and Mississippi to the National Gov- 
ernment on its pledge to remove the Indians, who were Creeks 
and Cherokees, as fast as it could be done. 

The red men, learning the object of the frequent purchases of 
land from them by Georgians, refused in 1824, to sell any more. 
The Georgians, impatient with the government's delay, at- 
tempted to remove the Indians by force. 

With this unwarrantable proceeding President Adams inter- 



92 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

fered. A new treaty was made with the Creeks, who consented 
to remove west of the Mississippi, but the Cherokees dedined to 
leave Georgia, as they had a perfect right to do, and the Semi- 
noles likewise declined to leave Florida. 

President Jackson, who, although the sentiment had not yet 
been enunciated, believed that " the only good Indian is a dead 
one," backed Georgia in her determination to drive out the 
Cherokees regardless of treaty pledges; they were given a goodly 
sum for their lands, and compelled by military force to start for 
the Indian Territory. This was in 1838, and one- third of them 
perished on the way. 

With the Seminoles in Florida it was a different matter. Safely 
established, as they supposed, in their inaccessible swamps, mo- 
rasses and impenetrable forests, they steadfastly refused to leave, 
and there seemed no possible way of driving them out. Several 
of their lesser chiefs were plied with liquor in an unscrupulous 
manner, and induced to sign away their lands ; some among them 
were killed by their leaders for their treachery, and then began 
a war which promised to last forever, and was marked by fright- 
ful atrocities. 

In the latter part of 1835 Major Dade, with several officers and 
one hundred men, was ambushed, and all slain excepting two 
privates who brought the first intelligence of the event. 

Major General Jesup, ordered to relieve Gov. C. K. Call in 
command of the troops in Florida, reached Tampa Bay on the 
20th of October, 1836, and " pushed the cam.paign with energy 
and skill " (1836-38). In his report to the Hon. J. R. Poinsett, 
Secretary of War, dated Washington City, July 6, 1838, we find 
the following: " On the 19th, (March, 1838,) I directed the 
Seminole chiefs to meet me in council at 12 o'clock on the 
20th. . . . None of the chiefs attended the Council, and I 
directed Colonel Twiggs to seize the whole party. Five hun- 



VARIED EXPERIENCES 93 

dred and thirty Indians were secured on the 21st and the two 
succeeding days; which, with one hundred and sixty-five negroes, 
that at different times were taken and sent to Tampa Bay, made 
an aggregate of six hundred and seventy-eight." 

The time of Lieutenant Radford's arrival in Florida, would 
seem to point to his having been present with General Jesup's 
command during the early spring campaign of 1838, and this is 
rendered all the more probable by the fact that in the month of 
June of that year he was already engaged elsewhere, as is shown 
by the following order: 

" United States Frigate CoTistellation, 
" Off the Balize, 19th June, 1838. 
" Lieutenant W. Radford who proceeds to New Orleans for 
the purpose of delivering the specie brought by the Constellatiov. 
from Tampico, is authorized to receive from the Consignees the 
freight for the several amounts as specified in the Bills of lading, 
grant receipts for the same and do all things in the premises 
which I could do, were I personally present, 

" A. J. Dallas." 

Capt. Alexander J. Dallas was born at Philadelphia, Pa., May 
15, 1 79 1, appointed midshipman November 22, 1805, and cap- 
tain in 1828. He commanded the gun division on board the 
President with Commodore John Rodgers, and fired the first gun 
in reply to the shot from the Little Belt, May 16, 181 1. He also 
fired the first gun of the War of 181 2, in the engagement between 
the President and the Belvidera, June 23, 18 12. He is said to 
have served on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie in the war of 18 12, 
and commanded the Spitfire (Commodore Decatur's squadron) 
in operations against Algiers in 181 5. He took part in the chase 
and capture of the Algerian brig Estedio of 20 guns, off Cape 
Palos, June 19, 1815. 



94 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

He was in command of the John Adams (Commodore Porter's 
squadron), 1824, operating against pirates in the West Indies, 
and took part in captures and boat attacks. He was employed in 
1832-34 in laying out the Pensacola Na\y Yard, and commended 
for the good work accomplished there. In 1835-37 he com- 
manded the West India Squadron, and co-operated with General 
Scott and his successor General Jesup, in suppressing the Seminole 
Indians, in recognition for which service Fort Dallas was named 
for him. He protected American commerce against Mexican war 
vessels, and seized the Mexican brig General Uria until she made 
satisfactory terms. He then returned to duty at Pensacola until 
1843, when he took command of the Pacific Squadron. He 
died on the Savannah in the harbor of Callao, Peru, on June 3, 
1844. 

During Lieutenant Radford's cruise in the West Indies his step- 
father, General Clark, died on September i, 1838, and his 
funeral was " conducted in St. Louis with great pomp and 
solemnity, the firing of minute guns and all military honors." 

The following letter shows that while in New Orleans Rad- 
ford made a careful investigation of conditions relative to 
recruiting in that city: 

"Washington, D. C, November 21, 1839. 

" Agreeably to the Hon. Secretary of the Navy's suggestion, I 
respectfully submit my views as regards opening a rendezvous 
at New Orleans without a receiving vessel. As soon as the ship- 
ping master shall receive a specified number of men on board 
the packet bound for Pensacola he shall receive their advance. 
The captain of tlie vessel binds himiself to deliver them in Pensa- 
cola, and on his producing a receipt of delivery he will receive 
their passage money. For greater security I think an arrange- 
ment might be made not to make the advance until delivered in 
Pensacola. An officer will be on board the packet to receive the 



VARIED EXPERIENCES 95 

men, see they have their proper outfit, etc.; remain until she 
sails; the men then can have no opportunity of deserting. 

" On entering the harbor at Pensacola the packet will go 
immediately to the Flagship, or any U. S. vessel that may be in 
the port, and deliver them to the Commanding Officer. 

" I have the honor to be 
'' With great respect, 
" Your ob'dt servt, 
'' William Radford." 
" Hon. J. K. Paulding, 
" Secretary of the Navy." 

In February, 1840, the Missouri Republican, under the head- 
ing: " Another Revolutionary Soldier Gone," published an article 
from which the following is an extract: " Died at the residence 
of his son, Capt. George Hancock Kennerly, at Jefferson Bar- 
racks, Missouri, on Feb. 3, 1840, after a short illness, Samuel 
Kennerly of Fincastle, Botetourt Co., Va., in the 86th year of his 
age. Deceased was born in Augusta Co., Va., in 1755, and when 
the war commenced which secured our country it's freedom he 
joined the American army and fought under its standard until 
Victory crowned the triumph of our flag." 

Samuel Kennerly was eighty-six when he decided to leave 
Fincastle to make his home with his son George in St. Louis, and 
he survived the change but a few short weeks. 

William Radford could have known his maternal grandfather 
only through visiting him — as he undoubtedly did — during his 
trips in early years to Virginia. 

A cruise in the Preble took Lieutenant Radford in June, 1840, 
to the coast of Laborador, and in November of the same year 
for the third time to the Mediterranean. This was to be no long 



96 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

cruise, however, as, on March 6, 1841, he received orders, while 
at Port Mahon, to return to the United States, and, transferring 
to the Brandywine, sailed immediately, reaching New York in the 
early part of May, 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE OREGON QUESTION 

Correspondence of the day shows that feeling was running 
very high in the United States at that time, in regard to the 
question of the Oregon boundary. The following letter from 
Lieutenant Radford's cousin, George Wythe Munford, at one time 
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, gives an idea as to 
the reason of his sudden recall. 

" Richmond, May i6, 1841. 
" Dear William, 

"I received your friendly letter but a few days ago & was 
delighted to hear that you were once more in the United States 
and well; my only regret was that your letter was so short. 
When I saw the arrival of the Brandywine announced I had for- 
gotten that you were on board, I thought you still in the Medi- 
terranean. Mr. Stevenson ^ must have thought the prospect of 
war much more sure than we imagined here, or he would not 
have induced your return. We looked upon the warlike appear- 
ances both in Congress & in the British parliament as but the 
ebullition of feeling which would cool down, like a passionate 
fellow when he is allowed to rip out as many hearty oaths as he 
chooses. But John Bull had better not cut too many swells, we 
can stand some things, but if he gives us much more of his im- 

^ George E. Badger was then Secretary of the Navy, and I find no 
record of the name of Stevenson, though there may have been some 
one of that name temporarily m charge at that time. 

97 



98 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

pertinence we will give him a dressing, or take one! The truth 
is, it is well known that the condition of the United States at 
present is far from being one of readiness for war, & that old 
Bull knows full well, but if he will give us time, we will pull off 
our coats presently, roll up our sleeves & square our elbows — 
& then let him take care! We have some boys who are longing 
for a little distinction. — We should probably be whipped a little 
in the outset, but we would do like the game chicken, walk slowly 
around the ring, taking a drubbing kindly until we get wind & 
every now and then put in a pretty considerable flutter. They 
couldn't whip us in the long run any way they could fix it, — so let 
them try! I hope before you are ordered back on another cruise 
you will obtain a short leave of absence & run on here if it is 
only to say how'd3^e & by 'tie. I am getting over my labors now 
& in a few days will be at your service either for a fishing 
excursion or to stand at your back on a courting one. You 
will find me a considerable backer! I know how to fix a fellow's 
gaffs, & trim him up for a real gal hunt. — Maybe I have seen 
a little of that sort of sport in my days. I think if I had my 
time to go over again I should know how to prepare for action 
without wasting so much time. By the bye, the Skipwiths are 
in town, if it were not for the Preachers you might stand some 
cliance with Helen, but she has set her mind heavenward, & I 
fear it will be an uphill road for you to travel, though it is cer- 
tainly a very safe one, if we only keep right ahead! They 
will leave here tomorrow for Alexandria where they will attend 
the Episcopal Convention which takes place on Wednesday. The 
Bruces too arrived here on their way thither. They intend visit- 
ing the Falls of Niagara & various other great sights & places 
before returning home. Look sharp for them in New York after 
the Convention adjourns & you will overhaul them. Take care 
that they don't give you chills & fever as they gave my brother 



THE OREGON QUESTION 99 

William. Poor fellow he has been in bad health ever since! — 
Your brother John has been with us since you left & only returned 
home about a fortnight ago. He stayed here about a month in 
all. He is as much like you as' two black-eye peas. They say 
that he fell desperately in love with my little niece Sarah Sher- 
rard." (From all accounts Uncle John was always desperately 
in love.) " The rumor is that they are engaged to be married. 
I cannot get at the truth of the matter, for Sarah is as close as 
wax, but I learn that he is to return here again in the fall. You 
can get the truth from him no doubt. He stayed with me, but 
I could not get it out of him. All our friends here are well. My 
Lizzie (Mrs. G. W. Munford), unites with me in best wishes for 
your happiness & prosperity. Your room is ready for you; so 
come & occupy it. Believe me sincerely your friend & cousin, 

" George W. Munford." 
" Lieut. William Radford, U. S. Navy, 
" New York." 

(George Wythe Munford was named for George Wythe, Signer 
of the Declaration of Independence, who was a beloved and inti- 
mate friend of his father's.) 

More stately in tone was William Radford II's epistle to his 
nephew, commencing: " Dear William, Your letter of the 20th 
has just been received and it affords me great pleasure to know 
that your have returned to this country and that you enjoy good 
health. It will give us at all times pleasure to see you and to 
know of your welfare. Your Aunt Betsy (Mrs. Wm. Radford, 
daughter of Gen. Wm. Mosely) is at this time at the Red 
Sulphur Springs, waiting on our beloved daughter, who is in 
extremely low health. . . . 

"Your affectionate Uncle, 

'' William Radford." 



icx) OLD NAVAL DAYS 

The home of William Radford II, in Bedford County, was at all 
times open to my father as though he had been a son of the 
house, and he spent many happy days there between his cruises. 
That he was staying there in the month of October, 1841, is 
shown by a letter sent to that address. Being the elder by some 
years William Radford had been left by his mother the guardian 
of his brother John, and no light responsibility must this have 
been, judging by certain letters I have before me. It would be 
unfair, however, to give these without first stating that despite his 
reprehensible habit of using strong language Uncle John was really 
a most attractive and interesting man. The following is evidently 
an answer to a letter hauling him over the coals for certain mis- 
demeanors. 

" St. Louis, October 2, 1841. 
" Dear Brother, 

" Capt. Hutter told you a damb Lie. I started from here 
last winter on $250. to go to New Orleans after a damb rascal 
who tried to cheat me out of three thousand dollars. I went 
down to take possession of a steam Boat of his and sell it, that 
was my Business in New Orleans, and when I got through that 
I had to go to New York, and as there had been so much rain 
in New Orleans & Alabama that there were no stages running I 
had to go by water, and as it cost very little more to go by Havana 
I went there and spent four or five days, and then sailed for 
Charleston, as I had business there for Mr. Dennies and he re- 
quested me to stay there two or three weeks and become ac- 
quainted with his mother and other relations; but as I found 
it dull I only stayed four days, and went on to spend the rest 
of my time with my relations in Virginia. I spent two weeks in 
Richmond and then went right on to Philadelphia where I ar- 
rived two or three weeks before I received my remittances . . . 
and all of my expences for the trip did not amount to over six 



THE OREGON QUESTION loi 

hundred dollars; and four hundred and fifty of that was actual 
expenses for traveling & board, leaving one hundred and fifty for 
my extra expenses such as theater and so forth. Now Brother, 
do you think that very expensive or extravagant for a young man, 
and especially as it was my first visit and you know I passed 
through all of the principal Cities in the U. S. except one!! 

'' Now as to my relations here none of them have done one 
damb thing for me except Col'n Clark & yourself, for which I feel 
duly obliged. I am getting on very well in my business here and 
making a very handsome support. . . . 

^' Your Brother 

" John." 

From the Bra?tdywine Lieutenant Radford had been trans- 
ferred to the Pennsylvania which was stationed at Norfolk, and 
there he received the following order: 

*' Navy Department, December 20, 1841. 
'' Sir, 

" You will proceed to New York without delay, and report 
to Capt. Perry for duty on board the U. S. Sloop of War 
Ontario, to be stationed at New Orleans as a Receiving Ship, 

'* I am, respect'fy yours, 

" A. P. Upshur.'' 
" Lieut. Wm. Radford, U. S. Navy, 
" Norfolk." 

The Ontario was fitting out at the Brooklyn Navy Yard under 
command of Lieut. L. M. Powell, who wrote to Lieutenant Rad- 
ford from Washington in January, 1842: "The officers are 
ordered . . . Wedderbourne as Surgeon — Go on and organize 



I02 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

the ship. If anj^thing is wanting Commodore Perry will remedy 
it. Go to him freely, he will do anything to meet our wishes 
which he can approve. Your affairs are just as you desire and 
will be made to suit your views of the Rendezvous. — I shall soon 
be with you — as soon as the Aud'tr lets me off." 

Commodore Matthew Galbraith Perry has been called the 
pioneer of the steam navy of the United States. He received 
his appointment as midshipman on January i8, 1809, and was 
ordered to the schooner Revenge, commanded by his brother 
Oliver. She mounted twelve guns, had a crew of ninety men, 
and was attached to the squadron under Commodore John 
Rodgers, which numbered four frigates, five sloops, and some 
smaller vessels. His duty was to guard our coasts from the 
Chesapeake to Passamaquoddy Bay, to prevent impressment of 
American sailors by British cruisers. 

On the 1 2 th of October, 18 10, Midshipman Perry was ordered 
from the Revenge (which was wrecked off Watch Hill, R. I., 
January 8, 181 1,) to the frigate President. This brought him on 
the flagship, the finest of the hea\y frigates of 1797, and directly 
under the eye of Commodore Rodgers. Midshipman Perry 
gives in his diary a detailed account of the meeting with the 
British sloop-of-war Little Belt, and the exchange of shots which 
precipitated the war of 18 12. An entry under date of June 20, 
1812, reads: *'At 10 a.m. news arrived that war would be de- 
clared the following day against G. B. Made the signal for all 
officers and boats. Unmoored ship and fired a salute." Although 
war was declared on the 12 th of June, official information did not 
reach the army officers until June 20th, and the naval commanders 
until the 21st. A sketch of Commodore Rodgers' activities dur- 
ing this cruise having already been given we will only say that 
after three years of service, under his own eye, the Commodore 
wrote to the Department asking that Perry be promoted, and 



THE OREGON QUESTION 103 

this being granted February 27, 1813, Matthew Perry became, 
at eighteen, an acting lieutenant. 

Four of the Perry brothers served their country in the Navy 
in 1 8 13; two in the Lawrence on Lake Erie, and two on the 
President at sea. From the President Matthew Perry was ordered 
to the United States, under Commodore Decatur. Blockaded in 
the harbor of New London by a British squadron, this frigate, 
with the Wasp and Macedonian, was kept inactive until the end 
of the war. On Christmas Eve, 18 14, Lieutenant Perry was mar- 
ried to Miss Jane Slidell, then but seventeen years of age. On 
February 11, 1815, the British ship Favorite, bearing the olive 
branch, arrived at New York, too late to prevent the bloody 
battle of New Orleans, or the capture of the Cyane and Levant. 

Besides being " our second war for national independence," the 
struggle of 181 2 was emphatically for "sailors^ rights." At the 
beginning of hostilities there were on record in the State De- 
partment at Washington 6,527 cases of impressed American sea- 
men. This was, doubtless, but a small part of the whole num- 
ber, which probably reached 20,000; or enough to man our Na\y 
five times over. In 181 1, 2,548 impressed American seamen were 
in British prisons, refusing to serve against their country; this 
was reported by the British Admiralty to the House of Com- 
mons, February i, 181 5. In January, 181 1, according to Lord 
Castlereagh's speech of February 8, 18 13, 3,300 men, claiming 
to be Americans, were serving in the British navy.^ 

On July 5, 182 1, Perry, in command of a man-of-war, the 
Shark, conveyed Dr. Eli Ayres to Africa as Agent of the United 
States in Liberia. At that time he was deeply interested in ideas 
of ship hygiene, and his ambition was to make the cruise without 
one case of fever or scurvy. Of the slave trade at that time 
Perry wrote: " The severe laws of Congress had the desired effect 

1 Roosevelt's " Naval History of the War of 1812." 



I04 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

of preventing American citizens from employing their time and 
capital in this iniquitous traffic." 

Perry next, with his twelve-gun vessel the Shark, lent a hand in 
the suppression of piracy in the West Indies, under Commodore 
Porter. On July 26, 1824, he joined the North Carolina, and 
served as executive officer of the flagship of Commodore Rodgers' 
squadron during William Radford's first Mediterranean cruise. 

During the administration of Andrew Jackson, which began 
in 1829, the boundary question with England, and the long- 
standing claims for French spoliation prior to 1801, pressed for 
solution. 

In June, 1829, Perry sailed in command of the Concord to take 
the American Envoy, John Randolph of Roanoke, to Russia, and 
after a run of forty- three days reached Cronstadt on August 9th. 
While there the Czar Nicholas I came on board and inspected the 
ship with unconcealed pleasure. Perry and a party of his offi- 
cers were received in imperial audience at the Winter Palace in 
St. Petersburg, and he was invited to come again with only his 
interpreter and private secretary. The interview that time was 
prolonged and informal. The Czar complimented Perry very 
highly on his naval knowledge, and remarked that the United 
States was highly favored in having such an officer. Nicholas I 
was the grandson of the Empress Catherine II, by whom had 
been laid the foundation of the abiding friendship between Russia 
and the United States. King George III, of Great Britain had, in 
1775, attempted to hire mercenaries in Russia to light against his 
American subjects. The Empress Catherine refused the proposi- 
tion with scorn, replying that she " had no soldiers to sell." An- 
other friendly act which touched the heart of our young republic 
was the liberal treaty of 1824, the first made with the United 
States. This instrument declared the navigation and fisheries of 
the Pacific free to the people of both nations. Indirectly, this 



THE OREGON QUESTION 105 

was the cause of so many American sailors being wrecked in 
Japan, and of our national interest in the empire which Perry 
opened to the world by the treaty of March 31, 1854. 

When, on January 7, 1833, Captain Perry received orders to 
report to Commodore Charles Ridgley at the Brooklyn Navy 
Yard, his longest term of shore duty (ten years) began. When 
a boy he had often seen the inventor, Fulton, busy with his 
schemes; he had also seen the successful trial trip of the first 
Fulton, on June i, 181 5, and he now applied himself to the study 
and mastery of the steam engine, with a view of solving the prob- 
lem of the use of steam as a motor for war vessels. He likewise 
organized the Brooklyn Naval Lyceum, which stands today in 
honorable usefulness as a monument of his enterprise. Perry 
was offered the command of the famous U. S. Antarctic Exploring 
Expedition, but declined the honor because of his having become 
deeply interested in the idea of creating a steam navy. The 
command was most worthily bestowed on Lieut. Charles Wilkes, 
and this, the first American Exploring Expedition of any magni- 
tude, became known to all as the ^'Wilkes Exploring Ex- 
pedition." 

On June 30, 1834, Congress appropriated five thousand dollars 
to test the question of the safety of boilers in vessels. A " steam 
battery " was built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in 1836, for the 
command of which Perry applied. On October 4, 1837, Perry 
took command of the second Fulton^ of which he writes: "The 
Fulton will never answer as a sea-vessel, but the facility of 
moving from port to port places at the service of the Depart- 
ment a force particularly available for immediate action at any 
point." 

The following May he took the Fulton to Washington, " where 
President Van Buren and his cabinet enjoyed the sight of a war- 
ship independent of wind and tide." 



io6 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

It was to this distinguished officer that Lieutenant Radford was 
ordered to report; and when, for some personal reason, Lieutenant 
Powell applied to be relieved of the command of the Ontario, the 
first order was superseded by the following: 

"Navy Department, February i, 1842. 
" Sir, 

"You will report to Capt. Perry for the command of the 
Sloop of War Ontario, designed to be employed at New Orleans 
as a Receiving Ship. 

" As soon as the Ontario shall be in readiness for sea, you will 
proceed with her to New Orleans, and upon your arrival at that 
place, and as soon as a Commander shall report as your suc- 
cessor, you will regard yourself as detached and will then report 
to Commander Shields for duty at the Rendezvous under his 
command. 

" I am respect'fy yours, 

" A. P. Upshur." 
"Lieut. Wm. Radford, 

" U. S. S. Ontario, New York." 

Lieut. Woodhull Schenck, one of the officers of the Ontario, 
was detached for court-martial duty shortly before the date of 
sailing, and he writes as follows: 

(Lieut. Woodhull Schenck was appointed midshipman Decem- 
ber 30, 1831, lieutenant, September 8, 1841, and died May 9, 
1849.) 

"Baltimore, March 10, 1842. 
" Dear Radford, 

" I hope by the time this will reach its destination you may be 
safely moored off the Queen City. I fear I shall not be able to 



THE OREGON QUESTION 107 

join you for some time, perhaps two months from this time. The 

Courts are now upon the trial of G ; C comes on 

next . . . but let them go it, and like the Kilkennys leave 
nothing but their tails! You escaped with the skin of your 
teeth as an order was on its way for you when the ship sailed. 
Davis & Lockhart are both here, in truth everybody appears to 
be here, there are over a hundred Naval officers now in town. 
Tell Wedderbourne the prospect of my claim appears to 
brighten. . . .I'll give you both champagne if I have any 
cash left by the time I join you. ... I hear the Committee on 
Ways & Means have reported for the expenditure of 800,000 of 
dollars for the increase of the Navy. The Admiralty bill will 
stand no chance. So much for Congress — which I fear will be 

all old [news] thro the d d newspapers, those drawbacks to 

interesting letter-writing. Write and let me know all about your 
passage, and how the ship is situated — where she will lay during 
the summer, etc. Remember me to all, in truth consider this a 
mess letter and charge the postage accordingly — but I shall hold 
you personally responsible for the answer. Write yourself if you 
can, if not tell Scott to order Jenkins to do so — Three cheers. . . . 
old Ballard is on his last legs! I will write to you again ere 
long, believe me yours truly, 

''W. T. Schenck." 

The following are extracts from a letter from Lieutenant 
Huger, dated "Paris, March 12, 1842." 

'' It is rather a boast of dissipated habits to commence a letter 
at this time of night (near twelve) & tell you I am just dressed 
for a grand Bal Dramatique at a Theatre, given by actors & 
actrices. Corps de ballets and opera, that set! I mention this 
little circumstance to show how my health and strength have 
recovered to enable me to commit these indiscretions, and shall 



io8 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

finish my letter tomorrow & perhaps tell you of some of the doings 
at the ball; though just now I must say that I feel little like 
either dancing or writing, but the hour of meeting is so cursed 
unnatural, and as I have a half hour with no one to bestow my 
tediousness upon, I will even inflict j^ou, hoping when you receive 
it, you may be expecting similar enjoyment, and may return 
the compliment the first idle moment you have. . . . 

" I thought both Lee and yourself had forgotten me, & had 

given you both up as d d lazy fellows & swore you should 

never hear from me again, but you see I forgive you, you have 
both made up your faults, and I hope you may still continue to 
let me hear from you, for I am wofully neglected by friends in 
America. . . . 

" Paris has been very gay, a great many dinners and dances, 
but now being Lent, we have taken to tea, conversations, etc. . . . 
The people here are speculating somewhat on the probability of 
war with Great Britain, but we appear more intent on squabbling 
at home; I fear that jarring at home will prevent any Naval Bill 
from passing, and if we do make anything of a naval fight we 
shall have to be kicked into it. Let me know v/hat becomes of 
you next summer, don't go to the White Sulphur ; but let me hear 
from you wherever you are. I shall be here at least three months 
longer. 

" Your friend — Huger." ^ 

There were two Hugers in the service at that time. Francis, 
appointed midshipman, June i, 1826, who died January 6, 1849; 
and Thomas B., appointed midshipman, March 5, 1835, who re- 
signed and went south at the beginning of the Civil War. I 
believe this letter to be from Lieut. Francis Huger. 

Phillips S. Lee, midshipman, November 22, 1825, Lieutenant, 

^ Pronounced Eugee. 



THE OREGON QUESTION 109 

February 9, 1837. Became Rear Admiral, April 22, 1870. Re- 
tired February 13, 1873. Died January 5, 1897. Rear Admiral 
Lee married Miss Blair, sister of Montgomery Blair, and of Capt. 
James Blair, U. S. Navy, all of Washington, D. C. He and my 
father were always close friends. 

A clash between England and the United States was, at that 
time, all but brought about by reason of the long disputed Oregon 
boundary question, and it is of interest to note that it was Marcus 
Whitman, one of the missionaries who had gone at General Clark's 
instigation to carry the " White man's Book of Heaven " to the 
Indians, who was the first to warn the government at Washington 
" of the certainty of its losing Oregon unless prompt measures 
were taken to save it." To accomplish this " Whitman journeyed 
across the Continent in the depth of a severe winter, reaching 
the Capital in March, 1843, when a compromise was effected 
between the two countries and the Oregon boundary definitely 
settled." 

McElroy, in his " Winning of the Far West," gives the date of 
the signing of the treaty between the two countries as June 15, 
1846, adding: *' With its ratification British relations ceased to 
embarrass the American Nation which was thus left free to devote 
its energies to Mexico." 

In President Tyler's Third Annual Message, December, 1843, 
we read: "After the most rigid, and, as far as practicable, un- 
biassed examination of the subject, the United States have always 
contended that their rights appertain to the entire region of the 
country lying on the Pacific and embraced within 42° and 54° 
40' of north latitude." McElroy further remarks: "When the 
Democratic National Convention assembled at Baltimore (May 
27, 1844,) and nominated James K. Polk for President, it is clear 
that whatever we may think of the legal justice of the cry, the 
Democratic party did not misjudge the temper of the American 



no OLD NAVAL DAYS 

people when they inscribed upon their party banner the motto: 
" Fifty- four forty; or Fight." 

A letter from Lieut. L. N. Carter, who afterwards left the 
Na\y and joined the Army, contains interesting items concern- 
ing events of that period. 

"Washington, April 3, 1842. 
"Dear Radford, 

" The bundle and letters were received in due season and I 
thank you. I presume by the time you arrive at Orleans this 
will reach you. . . . The winter passed as usual; the Misses 

B were much admired, the eldest was termed beautiful. . . . 

Stanard, whom you remember at the White Sulphur, in 1836, is to 
marry Miss Ellen. ... A great number of Naval people of all 
sizes are sent into the Senate for confirmation, their fate seems 
doubtful, tho' I think they'll pass. Congress is embarrassed & 
mean, & nothing but the threatening aspect of affairs will make 
them do what is right. Courts Martial in abundance, the bigger 
the rascal the better chance of escape if he is a little cunning 
& has adroit counsel. ... I keep aloof as much as possible. . . . 
Powell is here and promises to assist me in extricating you from 
Orleans; write and let me know when you wish to retire from 
contemplating the broad expanse of the Mississippi. Watts looked 
young, handsome & delicate, free from the use of poisons, 
& was judged here to be the choice of the Sovereign Lady, but 
rumor has dashed his success to the winds. I agree the beauty of 
Ellen was enough to set * ten Poets raving ' without having, in the 
trading language of the North, a dollar to her name. . . . 

" People are breaking everywhere, & nothing seems safe in the 
shape of property. Pennsylvania will not repudiate, but she will 
not & cannot pay her debt. Paupers like myself are mere spec- 
tators, & look with childlike innocence on all around. 

" I shall be happy to greet you here as is my wont, & number 



THE OREGON QUESTION iii 

you among the band of friends that are the chosen, of your 
cordial friend, L. N. C." 

A letter from Capt. Samuel Mercer (midshipman, March 4, 
1815; commander, September 8, 1841; captain, 1855; died March 
6, 1862), dated Philadelphia, April 6, 1842, after notifying Lieu- 
tenant Radford that he had been summoned as witness in a court- 
martial at Baltimore, and begging him to come as quickly as 
possible, terminates as follows: "Congress has done little or 
nothing, and from their present temper seem resolved to do about 
as good a business for the remainder of the Session. . . . Every- 
thing appears squally, and war seems almost inevitable. — If we 
were prepared I should say — let it come! But in our present 
defenseless state a war would be disastrous." 

It would be but natural to assume that Lieutenant Scott, the 
writer of the following letter, was not a native of the " Hub." 

"U. S. Ship Ohio, Boston, July 25, 1842. 
". . . I am pleased to hear you have left N. Orleans as I 
can well imagine the temperature was anything but pleasant, to 
say nothing of the yellow fever which our mutual friend Jenkins 
had such a horror of. I almost envy you the delightful fall you 
will pass in shooting, etc. Why did you not apply for Jenkins 
to accompany you, he would have made an independent fortune 
by supplying the St. Louis market with game, being so expert on 
the wing! He informs me it is a pleasure to see the fine order the 
Ontario is in by the assiduous attentions of the Executive officer. 
I expect the most assiduous attentions have been to Miss Knot as 
he kept dark about the matter in his letter to me. You see I am 
still on board this ship which is anything but pleasant as you 
may imagine. . . . This is the dullest & most uninteresting place 
that man was ever doomed to be at; in the way of Navy news, the 
Brandywine has arrived at Norfolk, the Columbia has sailed for 



112 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

the coast of Brazil, etc., etc. We hope to sail by the first of 
September. Financial affairs here are truly deplorable; there has 
not been a dollar on the station for three months so you may 
judge my credit is exhausted. Cadwalader sends his respects & 
desires me to tell you one of the Miss Bruces is engaged to be 
married but does not know the individual. Who knows but you 
are the happy man. If so inform me. . . . 

"Wishing you every happiness, I remain, Your Friend, 

" G. H. Scott." 

Gustavus H. Scott was appointed from Virginia, August i, 1828; 
was on the frigate Guerricre, Pacific Squadron, 1829-31; commis- 
sioned lieutenant, February 25, 1841; on the frigate Columbus, 
Mediterranean Squadron, 1843-44; commander, December 27, 
1856; commanding steam gunboat Maratanza, North Atlantic 
Blockading Squadron, 1862; Blockading Squadron, 1865; Com- 
modore, 1869; Rear Admiral, February, 1873, commanding North 
Atlantic Squadron. He died in 1882. 

The above letter was addressed to St. Louis, and an official 
letter from Lieutenant Radford, from that city, to the Hon. A. P. 
Upshur, Secretary of the Navy, dated October 20, 1842, reads; 

" Having been instructed by the Department when the Ren- 
dezvous was closed at New Orleans, to keep it informed of my 
whereabouts, I report myself at this place & respectfully request 
to know when the Rendezvous will be reopened that I may be 
there. ..." 

William Radford spent the winter of 1842-43 at the Rendezvous 
in New Orleans, and in August, 1843, was ordered as lieutenant 
to the frigate Savannah, which was fitting out in New York for 
a cruise in the Pacific. 

In April of that year he received a letter from his brother 
John announcing his engagement to Miss Sophy Menard, daugh- 



THE OREGON QUESTION 113 

ter of the Governor of Illinois, and their wedding is mentioned 
by General Kearny in the following letter: 

"Jefferson Barracks, September 20, 1843. 
" Dear William, 

" Lieutenant De Camp will leave here tomorrow for New York, 
& as I understand that you are, or are to be stationed there I 
must avail myself of the opportunity of writing you a few lines. 
You are a shabby fellow — You have been moving about for the 
last few months but have left us in entire ignorance of your 
movements — Mary has been desirous of writing to you, but we 
knew not where to direct so that a letter would reach you. 

" John was married at Kaskaskia. Mary and myself — Lewis & 
Abbey (Meriwether Lewis Clark, & his wife. Abbey Churchill) & 
several others went down and attended. . . . John and Sophy 
are both desirous of settling on a farm — If he can find one in 
this neighborhood to suit him, he says he will buy it. 

" General Gaines left us a few days since, not to return before 
next spring, if then. I succeeded him in the command of the 
Department — I am looking out for a good house in St. Louis. . . . 

" We are all well here — Write to us — Go and see my brother 
Phil — He lives somewhere in Broadway — No. 600, or thereabouts. 
Yours, 

" S. W. Kearny." 

(The " Phil " here referred to was a brother, and not to be 
confounded with his nephew. Gen. Phil Kearny.) 

A second letter from the same, to the same, written ten days 
later, says: "Yours of the 9th inst. to your Sister was received 
about a v/eek since, & as she appears to be as unwilling or dilatory 
to write letters as you are, the answering of it falls upon me." 

As both my aunt, Mrs. Kearny, and my father detested letter 
writing I cannot but insert this phrase, although, considering the 



114' OLD NAVAL DAYS 

fact that a letter from him had just been received, it appeared 
hardly the fitting moment in which to reproach him for his 
delinquencies. 

" What a delightful prospect," continues the missive, " for the 
next three years — A cruise in the Pacifick! If I am sent to the 
Columbia as Governor General of Oregon, we shall have the pleas- 
ure of meeting. If the Savannah is a fine Frigate & you should 
have a pleasant Mess, why then your prospects must be agree- 
able. I know that you officers prefer the Mediterranean to the 
Pacifick, but the latter will be new to you — Not so the former — 
& the novelty cannot be otherwise than interesting — Keep a 
diary — No doubt there would be a monotony in some parts — But 
in others it would be different." (If Lieutenant Radford ever fol- 
lowed this advice the diary was lost with his other records and 
papers on the Cumberland as will be told later.) 

" John & his wife are now with us — She is a very fine woman — 
good sense — good ideas, but not brought up to be a good man- 
ager, . . . John has no vices but is a most indolent man & reflects 
less about the future maintenance of a family than any man of 
my acquaintance. In looking for a farm he is constantly talking 
about the good shooting & fishing near it — Perhaps when once 
settled he may begin to work. ..." 

Poor, dear, happy-go-lucky Uncle John! Small wonder was 
it that his energetic and thoroughly practical brother-in-law had 
little patience with him. 

" Lieutenant Turner returned yesterday from his furlough," 
continues the letter . . . then " We have had a visit from Marshal 
Bertrand, or General Bertrand as he calls himself. It was ar- 
ranged on th-e 22 nd that he should come down here with me 
next afternoon from St. Louis. So we had the troops ready for 
a Review & the cannon for a salute. I went up to the city, but 
he had gone on a visit to the mouth of the Missouri & did not 



THE OREGON QUESTION 115 

return til exact 4.30 p.m. He was detained by visitors & business 
til near 6 when I got him & Colonel Benton in my carriage & drove 
down rapidly but it was in the dark of the evening before we 
got here, & too late for Review or Salute — But all the officers 
called in full Uniform, & half an hour after the Ladies of the 
Garrison were introduced & we had a Military Soiree that eve- 
ning. At 10 at night a Steam Boat stopped for him, & he left 
us much gratified with his visit & has gone to the ^ Hermitage.' " ^ 

"He had with him a Son who is a Captain in the French 
Army, & a Friend. He is a very interesting old man, & one whom 
all Soldiers can delight in paying honors to, — I hope you may see 
him. 

" As you will probably not sail for 3 or 4 weeks Mary will 
write to you to bid you good-bye. Let me hear from you. We 
are all well. Yours, 

" S. W. Kearny." 

Marshal Bertrand (Henri Gratien) was a French general who, 
through devotion to the Emperor Napoleon I followed him to 
exile in the islands of Elba and St, Helena. In 1840 he brought 
the remains of the Emperor back to France, to find a stately 
resting-place beneath the dome of the Invalides. 

The order to join the U. S. Frigate Savannah was received by 
Lieutenant Radford when at the Greenbriar White Sulphur 
Springs, in August, 1843, ^^^ the following October he sailed 
from New York for the Pacific Station, where four strenuous and 
eventful years of his life were to be spent. 

1 Ex-President Andrew Jackson's home, near Nashville, Tenn. 



CHAPTER IX 
OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICA^s^ WAR 

Sailing from New York on October 19, 1843, the Savannah, 
under the command of Capt. Andrew Fitzhugh, entered the 
harbor of Rio de Janeiro on December i8th, and there the officers 
bade adieu to the Hon. Harvey M. Watterson, Diplomatic Agent 
of the United States, who had come out as a passenger on the 
ship. 

From Rio the Savannah proceeded to Valparaiso, meeting there 
the Erie under Commodore A. J. Dallas, who, on February 11, 
1844, hoisted his broad pennant aboard the Savannah, which, 
from that date, became the flagship of the Pacific Squadron. 

An entry in the log of the Savannah, dated February 25, 1844, 
reads: " Captain Andrew Fitzhugh left the ship to return to the 
United States, & received 3 cheers from the ship's company." 

That Lieutenant Radford was still attached to the flagship at 
the beginning of April, 1844, is shown by the following order. 

" U. States Frigate, Savannah, 

^^ ^' Callao, ist April, 1844. 

oir, 

"A Naval General Court Martial will convene on board of the 

United States Ship Warren on Tuesday the 2nd day of April, 

1844. Of this Court you are a Member and will report yourself 

accordingly to the President thereof. 

" Very respectfully, yr. obt. svt., 

TTr T. ^r J '' A. J. Dallas." 

"Lieutenant Wm. Radford, 

" U. S. Frigate Savannah" 

116 



OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICAN WAR 117 

In the log of the Savannah we read, however, under date of 
April 24, 1844, " Lieut. Wm. Radford detached from this ship and 
ordered to the Warren" 

To the Warren he accordingly went a Senior First Lieutenant, 
and there is an undated draft of a letter written by him to his 
brother-in-law. General (then Colonel) Kearny, from some un- 
named Mexican port, on the Gulf of California, in January, 1845, 
which gives a graphic description of a cruise made in the latter 
vessel between the months of April and December, 1844. 

" Dear Colonel, 

" Months have passed since an opportunity has offered to 
send a letter to the U. S. I wrote to Sister from Papeita some 
three or four months since, but as it had to pass Cape Horn it 
will hardly get home as soon as this. After leaving Papeita, one 
of the Society Isles in possession of the French,^ we reached the 
Sandwich Isles after a Passage of some twenty odd days, and 
entered the harbor of Honolulu, Island of Oahu, which is the 
headquarters of the King of all the Isles, and also the principal 
station of the American Missionaries. There are some several 
hundred in the different Sandwich Isles, and they appear to have 
done something toward civilizing the natives. They have the 
King entirely under their charge, consequently they are in fact 
the government, and the King a tool in their hands, whom they 
have put in a red coat with a pair of epaulettes. However, he 
has a large suite, quite civilized, that make a very respectable 
appearance . . . the Ladies as well as gentlemen decked out in 
the most approved European fashions. The whole poulation are 
fast increasing in this Island, and two generations more will 
hardly leave a full blooded Indian amongst them. After remain- 

1 In 1843 Admiral du Petit Thouars procured the signature of a 
document placing the Tahiti Archipelago, or Society Isles, under 
French protection. Papeita is the port of the island of Tahiti. 



ii8 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

ing some three weeks at Honolulu we sailed for St. Francisco, 
Upper California, and adverse winds drove us nearly as far North 
as the mouth of the Columbia river, making our voyage to St. 
Francisco twenty-eight days. The Bay of St. Francisco is one 
of the most splendid in the world, offering safe harbors in every 
part and extending north and south from the entrance some sixty 
miles. There is a small village containing some few hundred 
inhabitants, supported principally by the sale of hides. The 
country is very mountainous and almost destitute of wood, and 
strange to say their most disagreeable weather is during the sum- 
mer months. Their winters, though in nearly the same latitude 
as St. Louis, are never visited with anything colder than a light 
frost. After remaining there a few days we sailed for Monterey, 
the place of Commodore Jones' exploit." 

(Commodore Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, commanding the 
U. S. Pacific Squadron in 1842, believing war to have been de- 
clared between the United States and Mexico, entered the harbor 
of Monterey with two ships, the United States and Cyane, on 
October 20th, and sending ashore 150 men under Commander 
Stribling demanded the immediate surrender of the place. 
The garrison, unable to defend themselves, marched out of 
the fort " with music and colors flying, but the following day, 
it having been discovered that the war rumors were devoid of 
foundation, the place was restored to its rightful owners, the 
American garrison retiring to their vessels, which immediately 
fired a salute in honor of the Mexican flag.") ^ 

" It also is a very small place, and what Commodore Jones 
wanted with it I cannot imagine. . . . We only remained there 
two days and sailed for this place, where we will make as short 
a stay as practicable. From what I saw and learned of California 
it can never be a very densely populated country, as by far the 

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OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICAN WAR 119 

greater part is too mountainous for cultivation. I saw some of 
the Immigrants who came across the mountains, at St. Francisco." 

(" The immigrant parties of 1844, like those of the preceding 
year, were two in number; and, as in 1843 ^^so, one came from 
Oregon, while the other crossed the Sierra by a more direct route 
to California.") ^ 

" They were not pleased with the Oregon country and had 
wandered along the coast until they reached St. Francisco, and 
from what I have learned the Oregon is not a very desirable 
Country. It is much better timbered than the Californias though 
report says it is very unhealthy. However, we should and ought 
by rights to have some possessions on the Pacific, and I for one 
am willing to fight for this country. If we give up the Oregon 
Country to the English or any other Nation I think we had better 
abandon our Na\7' and throw ourselves upon the mercy of any 
Nation who may think proper to take our possessions from us. 

'' I have not received any letters since we sailed from the 
U. S. Indeed there has been no opportunity, as since I left up 
to this time I have sailed upwards of thirty thousand miles, and 
am now in the slowest sailing vessel in the Na\y, consequently 
we see an eternity of salt water and but little land, and as the 
places we visit are but half civilized, I have been out of the ship 
but twenty- four hours on liberty (as we call it) in six months. 

" We leave this place today for Honolulu again, though we will 
run down the coast about one hundred and fifty miles to touch 
at St. Bias first. From Honolulu we will return immediately 
to Chili which is about eighty days' passage. Honolulu is about 
twenty-four hundred miles nearly due west. This ocean is en- 
tirely too large for any use, or at least I am disgusted with the 
distance in a slow vessel. There is no harbor here or at St. Bias, 
and as this is the Hurricane Season we will not anchor but merely 

1 Idem. 



I20 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

send a boat in to communicate, get news, etc. We have had much 
sickness on board. The Dysentry killed seven of the crew. I 
was dangerously ill myself but have recovered. ..." 

Here the writing terminates abruptly, but that Lieutenant Rad- 
ford had in no way recovered is shown by a letter from the 
ship's surgeon, dated, " U. S. S. Warren, Callao, May 9, 1845," 
requesting a " Medical survey on the person of Lieut. Wm. Rad- 
ford," and adding: " This gentleman suffered severely from Dys- 
entry and Inflammation of the bowels during his late cruise in 
this ship and his health is still so delicate . . . that I have felt 
it my duty to urge upon him the necessity of a cessation of duty 
in this climate for the present. 

" Very Respectfully, etc., 

-r. XT n T- " Wm. Tn. Powell, Surgeon." 

"Jos. B. Hull, Esq., *' ' ^ 

" Commanding U. S. S. Warreii" 

This report was transmitted by Captain Hull to Commodore 
Sloat, who had replaced Commodore Dallas as Commander-in- 
Chief of the United States forces in the Pacific, the latter having 
died at Callao, Peru, on June 3, 1844. 

John Drake Sloat was born at Sloatsburg, Rockland County, 
New York, July 26, 1781, and appointed midshipman U. S. N, 
February 12, 1800. He was sailing-master on February 7, 18 12, 
and maneuvered the frigate United States under Commodore 
Decatur when he captured the crack British frigate Macedonia, 
October 25, 181 2. For this Sloat received the thanks of Con- 
gress, and was made lieutenant, July 24, 181 2. When in com- 
mand of the schooner Grampus, in March, 1825, he suppressed 
Cofrecinas, the last of the West Indian pirates, who was captured 
and shot. Made captain on February 9, 1837, ^^d commodore 
November i, 1843. On August 27, 1844, he was ordered to com- 
mand the Pacific Squadron, and on July, 1846, he took possession 



OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICAN WAR 121 

of California, and hoisted the United States flag at Monterey. 
He organized the Mare Island Navy Yard at California in 1852, 
was made Rear Admiral on the retired list on August 6, 1866, 
and died at Staten Island, New York, November 28, 1867, aged 
86 years. 

The report resulted in the calling of a board of three surgeons, 
who were ordered " to hold a strict and careful examination into 
the case of Lieutenant Radford, and report if the state of his 
health is such as to unfit him for duty for the present." 

This examination resulted in a report that, at least to the un- 
initiated, would appear a model of ambiguity. It is dated 
" U. S. S. Warren, Callao, May 11, 1845," ^^^ is as follows; 

" In obedience to your orders of the loth inst. we have held 
a strict and careful examination into the case of Lieut. Wm. Rad- 
ford, and report that the state of his health is not such as to 
unfit him for duty at present or render his immediate return to 
the U. States necessary. And in accordance with the regulations 
of the Navy Department in regard to surveys, we have to report 
that he is suffering under chronic dysentery which originated in 
this climate and will probably continue so long as he remains in 
it. Change to a more favorable climate is necessary. 
" Very Respectfully, Yr. Obt. Servts. 

" Wm. Maxwell Wood, Surgeon, 
" Jos. Nelson, & Chas. H. Oakley, Assts." 
" Commodore John D. Sloat, 

" Comdg. U. S. Naval Forces on Pacific Ocean." 

Whatever may have been the true opinion of the surgeons, 
Lieutenant Radford did not leave the Warren, which, during the 
summer of 1845, was again on the California coast. 



122 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

That was a period of intense expectancy as every officer and 
man of the Pacific Squadron was then keenly alive to the pos- 
sibility of war with Mexico. 

On the 2nd of October, 1845, Commodore Sloat, while at Hono- 
lulu with the flagship Savannah, received a " secret and confi- 
dential order " from the Navy Department instructing him, " as 
soon as he ascertained with certainty that IMexico had declared 
war against the United States," to possess himself at once of the 
port of San Francisco, and " to blockade or occupy such ports as 
his force might permit." '^ In fact he was required to exercise all 
the belligerent rights which belonged to him on the declaration of 
war, or the commencement of hostilities." ^ 

The Warren, reaching Honolulu on October 4th, watched the 
Savannah set sail on the 12 th, and four days later sailed herself 
for Mazatlan, following up the flagship. In this port Commodore 
Sloat remained for seven and a half months, " while the other 
vessels of his squadron were flitting hither and thither, watching 
the movements of the British fleet, under Admiral Seymour with 
his flagship " ColUngwood of 80 guns, constantly coming and 
going between Mazatlan, California, and other Mexican 
ports." 2 

During this long waiting " Commodore Sloat became greatly 
enfeebled in health, and a considerable number of the crew were 
on the sick list, unfit for duty, and even the wooden stocks of 
the anchors became rotten and worm eaten . . . and had to be 
replaced by others." 

An extract of a letter from Lieutenant Radford to Lieutenant 
Missroon, Executive officer of the U. S. S. Portsmouth, written 
during that period, reads: " Mazatlan, the coast of Mexico, should 
be avoided from July until November by all Captains who wish 

^Cutts: "Conquest of California and New Mexico." 
2 •' Life of Rear Admiral John Drake Sloat." 



OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICAN WAR 123 

to keep their crews in health and their vessels efficient. Heavy 
tains and squalls with the most terrific lightning then prevail. 
Frequently the winds are strong and on shore, which requires a 
smart vessel to take care of herself. However, that which is to 
be most dreaded on this coast is the sickly season as the fevers 
are deadly, and men the least exposed in the rivers or on shore 
are apt to lose their lives." 

'' At the commencement of the year 1846, the largest American 
fleet ever collected in that quarter was on the west coast of 
Mexico. The Pacific Squadron was then composed of the frigates 
Savannah of 52 guns; (the Constitution 50, and the Cofigress, 52 
guns, under orders to join), the sloops of war Portsmouth, Levant, 
and Cyane, each of 22 guns, with the Warren of 24, — in all 244 
guns and 2,210 officers and men. This gallant force anxiously 
awaited the arrival of the President's message to learn his views in 
regard to our Oregon and Mexican relations." ^ 

Having received no further instructions from the U .S. Govern- 
ment since those delivered to him in Honolulu, Commodore Sloat, 
after passing the winter in a state of anxious uncertainty, was 
greatly gratified b}'' Fleet Surgeon Wm. Maxwell Wood's offer of 
service for the perilous mission of obtaining news of a definite 
character; with which object in view Dr. W^ood, accompanied 
by Mr. Wm. Parrott, U. S. Consul at Mazatlan, sailed in the 
Warren for San Bias. Reaching that port on May 4th, they 
thence set out upon the hazardous expedition which was to take 
them through the very heart of warring Mexico. 

In Dr. Wood's own account of this adventurous undertaking 
we read: "We had penetrated five dd.ys' journey on horseback 
into Mexico, when, at the city of Guadalaxara, we received the 
first intelligence of actual hostilities upon the Rio Grande, and 
procured a Mexican newspaper with the account of the capture 

1 " Life of Rear Admiral Sloat.'* 



124 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

of Captain Thornton's detachment ..." (April, 1846.) '' I wrote 
Commodore Sloat a letter assuring him of the occurrence of hos- 
tilities, and sending him a translation of the account contained in 
the Mexican paper. Mr. Parrott, from his long established com- 
mercial relations with Guadalaxara, found an opportunity of 
expressing my letter to the Commodore." 

Not until after receiving news of the battles of Palo Alto and 
Resaca de la Palma, fought on May 8th and 9th, did Congress 
realize the fact that war between the United States and Mexico 
actually existed, and on May 13, 1846, the Secretary of the Navy 
wrote to inform Commodore Sloat that " the state of things 
alluded to in his letter of June 24, 1845," ^^^ occurred; that he 
should be governed by the instructions therein contained, and 
should " carry into effect the orders then communicated, with 
energy and promptitude." 

On the 7th of June, 1846, Commodore Sloat took his gig and 
went on shore at Mazatlan to learn the very latest news. Re- 
ceiving Dr. Wood's despatches he returned to the Savannah 
" with a look of grim determination in his eyes. The time had 
come to carry out the orders received so many months 
before." 

" After taking on more water, on June 8th, Commodore Sloat, 
leaving the sloop of war Warren behind at Mazatlan to bring him 
later news and despatches, gave the final orders, and the frigate 
Savannah, the greyhound and fastest sailing vessel of war then 
in the world, was soon under a cloud of canvas and sailing at 
full speed for Monterey, where she arrived in just twenty-four 
days, on the 2nd of July, 1846, and where she found the Cyane 
and the Levant at anchor in the harbor awaiting the arrival of 
the Commander-in-Chief. 

Oh July 6th, Commodore Sloat wrote to Commander J. B. 
Montgomery, U. S. S. Portsmouth, San Francisco: 



OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICAN WAR 125 

" Flagship Savannah, Monterey. 

" Since I wrote you last evening, I have determined to hoist the 
flag of the United States at this place tomorrow, as I would prefer 
being sacrificed for doing too much than too little. 

" If you consider you have sufficient force, or if Fremont will 
join you, you will hoist the flag of the United States at Yerba 
Buena, or any other proper place, and take possession, in the name 
of the United States, of the fort, and that portion of the 
country. 

" I send you a copy of m}^ summons to the military com- 
mandant of Monterey to surrender the place, and also my 
proclamation to the people of California, which you will have 
translated into Spanish, and promulgate many copies in both 
languages. ..." 

On the morning of June 7th, Capt. Wm. Mervine of the 
Savannah, was sent to demand the immediate surrender of 
Monterey. By ten o'clock, " the necessary force of 250 seamen 
and marines were landed under command of Captain Mervine, 
and were marched to the custom-house, where Commodore Sloat's 
proclamation was read, the standard of the United States 
hoisted amid three hearty cheers by the troops and fc"- 
eigners present, and a salute of twenty-one guns fired by all 
the ships." 

Commander Montgomery received Commodore Sloat^s order on 
the 8th, and at 8 o'clock the next morning he landed at Yerba 
Beuna with seventy seamen and marines, hoisted the American 
flag in the public square, with twenty-one guns from the sloop-of- 
war Portsmouth, and amid cheers from all quarters addressed the 
people, and posted the proclamation on the flagstaff. 

On the nth. Commander Montgomery informed Commodore 
Sloat that the flag of the United States was then flying at Yerba 
Buena, at Sutter's Fort on the Sacramento, at Bodega oa the 



126 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

coast, and at Sonoma, and adds, ^' the protection of person and 
property which our flag promises to California and its inhabi- 
tants, seems to be generally hailed with satisfaction." 

In a general order read on board the Savannah in the harbor of 
Monterey, July 15, 1846, Commodore Sloat announces "to the 
Officers, Seamen and Marines under his command, that he has 
received official information that the flag of the United States 
is now flying at Yerba Buena, Sutter's Fort, Saucelito, Sonoma 
and^ Bodega, and that the forces of the United States have quiet 
possession of the magnificent Bay of San Francisco and all the 
country within one hundred miles around, to the manifest satis- 
faction of the inhabitants, many of whom have enrolled them- 
selves under our flag and officers for its protection. ... He con- 
gratulates each one under his command that it has fallen to his 
lot to have participated in the honor and glory of placing the 
country under the flag of the United States, and in a position to 
be governed by their equitable and impartial laws." 

On the 1 6th, the British Admiral, Sir George Seymour, arrived 
in the ColUngwood at Monterey. There is an interesting account 
of this event given in Major Edwin A. Sherman's " Life of Rear 
Admiral J. D. Sloat." The story is told by the Commodore him- 
self as follows: 

" When the British line-of-battle ship ColUngwood arrived, 
there were the two frigates Savannah and Congress, and the two 
sloops-of-war Cyane and Levant of my squadron at anchor, with a 
battery of 42 -pounders on shore being constructed. The ColUng- 
wood anchored within pistol-shot of the Savannah. That ship 
with the others was ready for action; the decks were cleared, 
anchors hove short, the matches were lighted, and the gunners 
stood by loaded cannon; the yards were full of men ready to 
drop the sails on the instant of a signal. In fact, we did every- 
thing but show our teeth — run the guns out of the port-holes! 



OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICAN WAR 127 

The practical eye of the Admiral could not but observe the prepa- 
rations for immediate action." 

" You seem to be about to give your men some practice in the 
art of gunnery," said the Admiral as he shook hands with the Com- 
modore. Sloat pointed to the flag on shore and remarked that he 
" did not know but it would take some practice to keep it there." 

" Will you answer me candidly one question? " asked the Ad- 
miral, " Did you get any despatches through Mexico, just before 
you left Mazatlan? " 

"/ did not" was the prompt answer from Sloat. 

After a moment's study, the Admiral said: " You did right, 
perhaps, and your Government will sustain you as the case now 
stands; but don't you know, Commodore, that there is not an 
officer in the British Navy who would have dared to take the 
responsibility you have done? You doubtless had orders to take 
Monterey in case of war, but when you left Mazatlan, there were 
only a few leading Mexicans and myself who knew of the exist- 
ence of hostilities. It is all over now," he continued; "but 
tell me, Commodore, since you are not a man to shrink from 
responsibility, what would you have done, had there been, when 
you reached here, the flag of another nationality floating where 
yours now floats, and that flag guarded by a ship of the line? " 

" I would," said Commodore Sloat, " have fired at least one 
shot at it, and perhaps have gone to the bottom, and left my 
Government to settle the matter as it thought best." 

On the afternoon of July 5th, the Congress had arrived, under 
command of Commodore Stockton. 

" On the 23rd," reports Commodore Sloat, " I directed Com- 
modore Stockton to assume command of the forces and opera- 
tions on shore, and, on the 29th, having determined to return 
to the United States via Panama, I hoisted my broad pennant on 
board the Levant, and sailed for Mazatlan and Panama, leav- 



128 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

ing the remainder of the squadron under his command, believing 
that no further opposition would be made to our taking possession 
of the whole of the Californias, (as General Castro had less than 
one hundred men), and that I could render much more important 
service by returning to the United States with the least possible 
delay, to explain to tlie Government the situation and wants of 
that country, than I could by remaining in command, in my infirm 
state of health." 

The report from which these extracts are taken was written on 
board the Levant while at sea, on July 31, 1846, on his return 
home. After crossing the Isthmus on mule-back. Commodore 
Sloat embarked at Chagres for the nearest foreign port from 
whence he could obtain passage for the United States, and ar- 
rived at Washington early in November, 1846. 

Before passing on to the next chapter, we will revert to Fleet 
Surgeon Wm. Maxwell Wood, both in connection with Com- 
modore Sloat and with Lieutenant Radford. 

Said Commodore Sloat, in his letter of March 20, 1855, writing 
from New York to Dr. Wood: 

" I am most happy to acknowledge the very important services 
you have rendered the Government and the Squadron in the 
Pacific under my command at the breaking out of the Mexican 
War. The information you furnished me at Mazatlan from 
Gaudalaxara (at the risk of your life) was the only reliable in- 
formation I received of that event, and which induced me to 
proceed immediately to California, and upon my own responsi- 
bility to take possession of that country. I have always con- 
sidered the performance of your journey through Mexico at the 
time as an extraordinary feat, requiring great presence of mind 
and address. How you escaped from the heart of an enemy's 
country and such a people, has always been a wonder to me, and 
has been so characterized on all occasions." 



OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICAN WAR 129 

In a letter dated "New York, October 9, 1855," Lieutenant 
Radford writes: 

" In our conversation a few days since relative to the informa- 
tion you furnished Commodore Sloat, of the Pacific Squadron, 
from Gaudalaxara, at the commencement of the Mexican War, 
I stated, and am still under the firm belief, it was of infinite 
service to the country; more especially as the Commodore states 
in his letter to you his prompt action in taking California was 
induced from yours, the only reliable information he had received. 
" It was reported at Mazatlan, where our small Squadron was 
anchored that the English Admiral was waiting off San Bias for 
permission from the Mexican Government to hoist the English 
Protectorate flag in California; consequently immediate action 
was^ — in my opinion — of vital importance. 

" Yours truly, 
" Wm. Radford, 

" Lt. U. S. Navy." 
" Dr. Wm. INIaxwell Wood, 
« U. S. Navy." 

(Commodore Robert F. Stockton, to whom Commodore Sloat 
turned over his command, was born in 1795, at Princeton, N. J., 
and became a midshipman in the U. S. Navy, Septem- 
ber, I, 181 1 ; served in the War of 1812, and the expedition 
against Algiers; although in the naval service, he was always 
active in politics, but frequently changed his party allegiance. 
He declined the post of Secretary of the Navy, offered him by 
President Tyler. Three years after his California experience he 
left tiie Navy and the next year was elected U. S. Senator from 
New Jersey, but resigned after a short service in the Senate. 
He was prominently mentioned for the Democratic nomination for 
President in 1856. He died October 7, 1866.) 



CHAPTER X 

THE " MALEK ADHEL " 

We have last seen the Warren on June 8, 1846, left behind at 
Mazatlan for the purpose of bringing the latest news to the 
Commander-in-Chief. A month and more she waited, and finally, 
on July 15th, set sail for Monterey bearing important despatches. 

In her log of August 13, 1846, we find "On our arrival at 
Monterey discovered that the Amer. Ensign was flying at the 
Custom House and Barracks on shore — California having been 
taken possession of and annexed to the U. States on the 7th day 
of July, 1846, by proclamation of Commodore John D. Sloat, 
U. S. Navy. u y^ jj. Montgomery, 

"Act. Master." 

The officers of the Warren likewise found, upon arriving at 
Monterey, that Commodore Stockton had, on July 23rd, assumed 
the command of the United States forces on the Pacific Station. 

Merely touching at Monterey the Warren turned south again 
to the port of San Pedro, and there Captain Hull received the 
following order: 

"Ciudad de los Angeles, August 20, 1846. 
" Sir, 

" As soon as the U. S. S. Warren under your command is ready 
for sea you will proceed immediately to blockade the port of 
Mazatlan. . . . You will capture all vessels under the Mexican 
flag that you may be able to take. ,, ^ ^ Stockton." 

" Commander Joseph B. Hull, U. S. S. Warren, 
" Bay of San Pedro." 

130 



THE " MALEK ADHEL '^ 131 

In a report to the Hon. George Bancroft, Secretary of the 
Navy, dated August 22, 1846, Commodore Stockton writes: '' The 
Warren and Cyane will sail today to blockade the west coast of 
Mexico;'' and, "Three days since I received the President's 
Proclamation by the U. S. S. Warren from Mazatlan." 

The Warren reached Mazatlan on her return journey at an 
early hour on the morning of September 7th, and finding there 
a Mexican brig anchored in the roadstead, Captain Hull imme- 
diately proceeded to carry out the Commodore's instructions. 

" At 5.30," reads the log for that date, " hoisted out the boats 
and got 300 fathom line in the launch;" then, "From 8 to 
meridian made preparations for cutting out a Mexican Brig." . . . 
All being in readiness the Warren filled away and stood in abreast 
of the town of Mazatlan. Anchoring in four fathoms of water, 
the starboard batteries were brought to bear upon the town, and 
the ship prepared for action. The launch, first, second, and third 
cutters were then manned and armed, and set off under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant Radford to cut out the Mexican brig Malek 
Adheir 

That the action was no prolonged affair is shown by the log 
entry: " At 2.50 hoisted the American flag, (on the brig,) weighed 
her anchor and commenced hedging her to the ship." 

The account given by my father of that event was the record 
of one who never failed to see the amusing side of any matter. 

The hour chosen for the attack proved to be that of the daily 
siesta^ and the assaulting party, boarding the brig unopposed, 
had securely fastened down the hatches before the astonished 
Mexicans had realized their plight. 

Having assured himself of the enemy's effective confinement 
below decks, and placed a coxswain and handful of men as guard 
aboard the brig. Lieutenant Radford ordered the crews back into 
the boats and proceeded to hedge the prize out toward the Warren, 



1 3a OLD NAVAL DAYS 

What transpired on board during that time was gathered later 
through a close questioning of the coxsv/ain. 

Discovering — possibly by intuitive perception — that the Mexi- 
can officers were discussing the contents of a bottle in the cabin, 
the coxswain (by his own account), suddenly appeared in their 
midst, and whirling his cutlass above his head and theirs, helped 
himself to a rousing bumper of the fiery beverage, after which, 
with another flourish of the cutlass, he departed. So well 
pleased was he with the success of this experiment that, shortly 
afterward, he decided to repeat it, and there is no knowing to 
what lengths things might have gone had not a breeze, springing 
up, brought the boat crews back on board, who, hoisting the 
sails on the brig, proceeded to finish their course in swifter 
fashion. 

During all this time they were under a lively fire from the 
shore, and as the commander of the expedition was standing on 
the brig's deck watching the distant batteries through marine 
glasses, the coxswain (a sturdy young Irishman on whose brain 
the Mexican fire-water was having its effect) turned his eyes in 
the direction in which the officer was apparently gazing, and not- 
ing two young Mexican girls standing on a nearer wharf, he 
stepped up and, touching his cap, exclaimed: " If the Lef tenant 
plazes, I'll swim ashore and bring off the two Seiioritas." 

This same coxswain was of a fine Irish type, and faithfully 
fulfilled his duty when not under the influence of liquor. But 
so strong a hold had this, his besetting sin, taken upon him that 
hardly a week passed without his being up for punishment; in 
fact his acquaintance with the " cat " had grown to be one of 
more than ordinary intimacy. Flogging for certain offenses was 
the rule of the service, and an officer had no choice in the matter. 
At all the floggings, every one who could be spared from duty was 
obliged to be present. 



THE " MALEK ADHEL " 133 

Determined to break the lad (whose sterling qualities he had 
noted) of these habits, Lieutenant Radford called him one day 
into his cabin, and said: " Malone," (I do not recall his name, 
but this will answer), "I see you're up for punishment again 
this week. Now I'm getting tired of this thing, and I'm not 
going to have you punished today; but I tell you the very next 
time your name is up I'll have you keel-hauled, and see if that 
will set you straight.'^ This was a terrible threat, for it meant 
having him drawn under the ship's keel by a rope, and might 
even result in drowning; nor can I imagine that under any cir- 
cumstances would it have been carried into effect. But it made 
the desired impression, as from that day Malone changed his 
habits and became a steady and reliable man. He followed 
Lieutenant Radford in many of his cruises, going as coxswain of 
his gig, and later of his barge when a Rear Admiral. 

But we have wandered far from the Mexican brig, on which, at 
2.50 o'clock, the American flag was hoisted. "At 4.50," reads 
the Warren^s log, " got under way and stood out — at 5 took the 
prize in tow." 

The Malek Adhel was then anchored near the Warren and a 
crew of twelve men in charge of a boatswain put aboard her. 

The following day, at 5.30 a.m., according to the log entry, 
another Mexican brig was discovered endeavoring to enter the 
harbor of Mazatlan, and the second and third cutters under the 
command of Lieutenant Radford, cut out the brig Carmelita, 
anchored her near the Warren, and left Midshipman O. Crane in 
charge of her with four men and two marines. 

That the Malek Adhel was, however, the important prize, is 
shown by the great interchange of correspondence concerning her 
capture. She was a brig of war, and the largest vessel in the 
Mexican Navy. The prisoners taken aboard her were sent to the 
English brig Frolic, for passage on shore. 



134 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

A letter from Captain Hull to Commodore Stockton, dated 
^' U. S. S. Warren, September 12, 1846," reads in part: ''I have 
the honor of sending to you by Lieutenant Renshaw the cele- 
brated brig Malek Adhel, taken in the harbor of Mazatlan on the 
7th instant. ..." 

Joseph Bartine Hull, a nephew of Commodore Isaac Hull, 
was born in Westchester, New York, April 26, 1802, appointed 
midshipman Novem.ber 9, 18 13, and ordered to Navy Yard, 
Portsmouth, N. H. He joined the frigate Congress; went to 
Holland and the Mediterranean, in 181 5; returning, joined Com- 
modore Bainbridge's squadron, Mediterranean, 1816-17; Pacific 
Squadron, 1823. Commissioned commander, September 8, 1841. 
In command of sloop Warren, Pacific 1843-6 to October, 1847 — 
returning via Panama. While in command of the Warren off 
Mazatlan he sent in a boat expedition under Lieutenant Radford 
to cut out the Mexican gun-brig Malek Adhel, which was suc- 
cessfully done; was in command of the Northern District of 
California for a short period before the close of the Mexican 
War. Commissioned captain, September 14, 1855. I^ command 
of the Savannah, Coast Blockade, June to September, 1861. Com- 
modore, July 16, 1862. 

Commodore Stockton's report reads: 

" As soon as the Malek Adhel was seized the authorities en- 
forced the order requiring all Americans to retire 20 leagues 
into the interior or embark within 4 days; great excitement pre- 
vailed on shore, and threats were made against Americans, but 
no violence was committed beyond the temporary confinement 
of Mr. Mott, who was liberated through the intercession of 
Captain Hamilton (English) to whom I am much indebted for 
his services on the occasion and to whom I thought it proper 
to address a letter of thanks." 




COLONEL STEPHEN WATTS KEARNY 

Later, General in the Mexican War and Active in the Conquest of Cahfornia 



THE " MALEK ADHEL " 135 

On November 23, 1846, Commodore Stockton writes to the 
Secretary of the Navy from San Diego: 

" By the celebrated Mexican armed brig, Malek Adhel, which 
was captured and taken out of the Harbor of Mazatlan by the 
boats of the U. S. S. Warretiy I have the honor to send this 
despatch to you as far as Mazatlan, and to say that several 
other vessels, perhaps 13 or 14, have been captured by the 
Cyane and Warren^ official reports of which however have not 
yet reached me, but I have reason to hope and believe that every 
vessel by which our commerce in this ocean could probably be 
interrupted has been captured by Commander Hull in the War- 
ren, or Commander Dupont in the Cyane. Those officers de- 
serve praise for the manner in which they have blockaded and 
watched the Mexican coast during the most inclement season of 
the year. ..." 

A note amongst my father's papers in his own handwriting, 
reads: "Malek Adhel — Saracen — and brother to the great Sala- 
din; Chief who opposed Richard Cceur-de-Lion on his pilgrim- 
age to the Holy Land." (El-Melik-El-Adel.) 

Besides the Malek Adhel and Carmelita taken in the harbor 
of Mazatlan, I find a list of eight schooners and brigantines taken 
as prizes by the Warren one week later in the harbor of La Paz, 
and as many more were taken by the Cyane. 



CHAPTER XI 
CALIFORNIA 

In 1835 Texas revolted against Mexican rule and under the 
leadership of an eccentric character, Sam Houston, gained its 
independence at San Jacinto in 1836, becoming the " Lone Star " 
Republic with Houston as its first President. 

Dreading Mexican reprisals, Texas asked the protection of tlie 
United States, but this was warily refused until after eight years 
had passed when, on March i, 1844, by a joint resolution of 
Congress, Texas was admitted to the Union. 

As every one knew would be the case, war with Mexico immedi- 
ately followed, since this last named government would neither 
acknowledge the independence of Texas, nor accept the Rio 
Grande as the southern boundary. 

Not, however, until four days after the battles of Palo Alto and 
Resaca de la Palma had been fought (May 8 and 9, 1846) did 
President Polk and Congress declare that "war exists between 
the United States and Mexico." 

The Bear Flag Republic, which was proclaimed at Sonoma 
on June 14, 1846, had been speedily dissolved; the raising of 
the American flag, at Monterey and other places in California, 
proving the death knell of this incipient revolution. Neverthe- 
less, the Californians were known to be still " boiling with fury 
over the indignities in the North ..." where, Fremont had 
taken "prisoner the comandante tnUitar and other Californians, 
had hauled down the Mexican flag and elevated their own, and 
proclaimed a republic, besides shooting three California soldiers 

136 



CALIFORNIA 137 

in cold blood, and all unprovoked," all of which " seemed to 
them a wanton insult, and aroused in them a deeper indignation 
than if Sioat had bombarded Monterey." ^ 

In Commodore Stockton's report dated, " Ciudad de los 
Angeles, August 28, 1846," from which we have already quoted, 
we read: "On the day after I took command, I organized the 
* California battalion of mounted riflemen,' by the appointment 
of all the necessary officers, and received them as volunteers into 
the service of the United States. Captain Fremont was ap- 
pointed major, and Lieutenant Gillespie captain of the bat- 
talion. . . . 

" On the 13 th of August, having been joined by Major Fremont 
with about eighty riflemen, and M. Larkin, late American consul, 
we entered this famous * City of the Angels,* the capital of the 
Californias, and took unmolested possession of the government 
house." 

Early in September Fremont went north with a force of forty 
men, intending to recruit and return immediately. Commodore 
Stockton withdrew all his forces and proceeded with the squadron 
to San Francisco, leaving Captain Gillespie in command of the 
Pueblo de los Angeles, with about thirty riflemen. 

Hardly, however, had Commodore Stockton arrived at San 
Francisco than he received information that all the country 
south of Monterey was in arms, and the Mexican flag again 
hoisted. Briefly, the Californians rebelled and, on the 23rd of 
September, invested the " City of the Angels," where Captain 
Gillespie, finding himself and his few men overpowered by fully 
three hundred Californians, capitulated on the 30th. He thence 
retired, with all the foreigners, aboard a sloop-of-war lying 
at San Pedro, and sailed for Monterey. A state of warfare was 
thus inaugurated which *' was kept up, principally, south of 

1 Gertrude Atherton : " California." 



138 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Monterey, and continued until the arrival of General Kearny, 
when the brilliant events which led to the final conquest of Cali- 
fornia took place." ^ 

Throughout the autumn of 1846 the U. S. Squadron cruised 
actively along the whole western coast of Mexico, blockading 
all her ports. 

On November 8th, the Warren anchored off Yerba Buena (the 
fortified settlement of San Francisco), which town was rapidly 
becoming an important place. It was already being laid out in 
lots and squares, and a newspaper called The California Star, 
had been started by S. Brannon, the leader of the Mormon 
immigrants. 

From the Warren's log we learn that her officers and crew 
were actively engaged in the incessant warfare of the time. 
Marines and sailors were constantly being sent to relieve the 
barracks or the block house, and an entry of December 12th 
reads: ''At 5.30 received intelligence that the enemy intended an 
attack on the town (Yerba Buena) ; armed the boats and sent 
them ashore in charge of Lieutenant Radford accompanied by 
Lieutenant Rutledge, Midshipman J. G. Whitaker and other 
officers. Left the ship in charge of Midshipman De Bree, with 
ten men." 

On this same date, December 12, 1846, General S. W. Kearny, 
who had left Fort Leavenworth the preceding July, reached San 
Diego, and as his coming was destined to have a great influence 
upon the history of the country as well as upon Lieutenant Rad- 
ford's movements, we give an account of this expedition as 
portrayed by Valentine Mott Porter, Vice-President of the 
Missouri Historical Society.^ 

ij, M. Cutts: "Conquest of California." 

2 The Paper from which this account is taken was read before the 
Historical Society of Southern California, February 6, 1911, and is 
entitled : " General Stephen W. Kearny, and the Conquest of Cali- 
fornia." 



CALIFORNIA 139 

At the opening of the Mexican War, General (then Colonel) 
Kearny was at Fort Leavenworth in command of the First Regi- 
ment of United States Dragoons. The Administration, having 
in mind the acquisition of the far western country, appointed 
Kearny to command an overland military expedition for the 
capture of New Mexico and California. Before he could reach 
the coast, but after he was well on his way thither, certain early 
steps in the struggle had been taken. In order fully to appreciate 
his part in it, it will be advantageous to see what had already been 
done in California toward throwing off the Mexican rule, while 
he and his cavalcade were crossing the plains. 

Capt. J. C. Fremont, of the United States Topographical 
Engineers, had been for some time prior to the outbreak of the 
war engaged in exploration in the Sacramento Valley. (John 
C. Fremont was born in 1813 at Savannah, Ga.; entered Charles- 
ton College, from which he was expelled; became a teacher of 
mathematics in the Navy in 1833; ^^^er a cruise of two and a 
half years he was elevated to a professorship, which evidence of 
learning moved his former college to give him an A.B. and 
A.M.; resigned from the Navy and was engaged upon railroad 
engineering work until appointed a second lieutenant in the 
Topographical Engineers, U. S. A., 1838; brevetted captain in 
1844 for gallant and highly meritorious services in two expedi- 
tions to the Rocky Mountains; organized the California Battalion 
of Volunteers in 1846, serving as major thereof by appointment 
of Commodore Stockton; commissioned lieutenant colonel in 
the Mounted Rifle Regiment, U. S. A., 1846; sided with Com- 
modore Stockton in controversy with General Kearny; was court 
martialed, and sentenced to be dismissed from the Army for dis- 
obedience to orders; the sentence was commuted, but he resigned 
from the service in 1848, and engaged again in exploring work, 
reaching California in 1849; was elected U. S. Senator from 



I40 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

California in 1850, for a short term; nominated for President by 
the new Republican party in 1856; appointed major general of 
volunteers May 14, 1861; resigned June 4, 1864, without having 
performed any Civil War service of distinction; thereafter engaged 
in speculations which gradually impoverished him. He was ap- 
pointed Governor of Arizona in 1878, serving for a brief term; 
placed on the Army retired list as major general by special act 
of Congress, in 1890, and died July 13th of the same year. 

His work of exploration completed he was about returning 
to the East, when he received information that decided him to 
remain in what might become an interesting tlieatre of military 
operations. At Sonoma, above the Bay of San Francisco, a party 
of adventurous settlers, chiefly Americans, had revolted against 
Mexico and raised a standard of their own, known as the " Bear 
Flag." They made overtures to Fremont to join with them, but 
at the beginning they did not obtain his open support. Gradu- 
ally, though, he became more and more identified, at least in 
the minds of the people of the country, with this irregular move- 
ment. While not openly espousing the Bear Flag cause, it is 
certain that he gave encouragement to some of the aggressions 
perpetrated under that symbol. 

Commodore John D. Sloat, of the United States Navy, having 
been advised that, in case he heard of a declaration of war be- 
tween Mexico and the United States, he was to seize the ports on 
the California coast, but unless driven thereto was not to attack 
the government of California, found his task made the harder 
for the reason that the filibustering activities of Fremont added to 
the outrages perpetrated by the Bear Flag men, had weakened 
the confidence of the natives in the professed good faith of the 
Americans. 

By Commodore Sloat's orders the Stars and Stripes were run 
up at Monterey on July 7, 1846, and two days later at Yerba 



CALIFORNIA 141 

Buena. At the same time the Bear Flag came down at Sonoma 
and was replaced by the American standard. Commodore Stock- 
ton, who succeeded Sloat, within a few days after the flag was 
raised, was not content merely to hold the seaports, and after a 
conference with Fremont he decided to abandon any conciliatory 
attitude. He had already accepted a tender of services from 
Fremont and his improvised force from the north, made up of 
some of the Bear Flag men and of newly arrived immigrants, 
which was designated as the " California Battalion of Mounted 
Riflemen." This command was embarked for San Diego for 
the purpose of cutting off the retreat of General Jose Castro (the 
Mexican military commandante at Monterey) to the south, a 
plan that in the turn of events proved ineffective. Stockton him- 
self sailed for San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, where he landed 
a force of sailors and marines, with some small cannon. General 
Castro and Governor Pio Pico at Los Angeles made a show of 
preparation for defense, but realizing that they could not suc- 
cessfully repel the invaders they tried to open negotiations with 
Stockton. They felt that in view of the conciliatory attitude of 
Sloat, his predecessor, there might be some chance for an adjust- 
ment. Commodore Stockton, however, was not the kind of man 
to yield an inch of glory. Caring little for the feelings of the 
Californians, he treated their messengers disdainfully, and de- 
manded an unconditional surrender. As Castro and Pico could 
not comply without loss of honor they decided, not to resist, but 
to throw over the cause of the Californians and bolt, whereupon 
they headed for Mexico, leaving the Californians to shift for 
themselves. Major Fremont and his battalion having marched 
up from San Diego and joined the Commodore and men from the 
fleet, the united force, on August 13th, entered Los Angeles with- 
out hindrance. 
Having now completed, as he thought, the conquest of the 



142 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

country, Commodore Stockton sent Kit Carson, the scout, on an 
overland trip to Washington, bearing the tidings of the acquisi- 
tion of California. Four days after the occupation of Los 
Angeles, Commodore Stockton first learned authoritatively tiiat 
war had been officially declared between the United States and 
Mexico. So far he had been acting on the strength of informa- 
tion of hostilities gained by his predecessor. Yet he had ap- 
parently completed the task that he had set out to perform. 
Nothing remained to be done but to garrison the important places. 
Detachments for this purpose were drawn from Fremont's bat- 
talion. Stockton and Fremont then departed for the north, the 
one by sea, the other by land. Lieutenant Gillespie, of the Ma- 
rine Corps, with fifty men, was left in charge at Los Angeles. 
Not only was this force inadequate to hold in subjection a people 
whose unrest was increasing, but Gillespie himself was not a man 
fitted for the place. Arrogant, exacting, with intensified Anglo- 
Saxon inaptitude in dealing with alien peoples, he quickly had 
the town flaming with wrath and indignation. 

The result of Gillespie's intolerance at Los Angeles started up 
the first vehement opposition to the Americans. Leaders came 
forward in the persons of Jose M. Flores and Andres Pico, a 
brother of Governor Pio Pico. After a short but exciting siege 
Gillespie was forced to quit Los Angeles and withdraw to Mon- 
terey, The whole southern country was quickly reclaimed by its 
real owners, and the " conquest," proclaimed by Stockton and 
Fremont in the letters to Washington, was now undone. Worse 
than that, the people were now thoroughly aroused. To over- 
come them again would mean much hard fighting, compared with 
which the bloodless conquest just annulled was but child's play. 
The Americans faced a situation less favorable than when they 
began. The real task was ahead of them. Commodore Stockton, 
who so far had not lacked confidence or energy, prepared to 



CALIFORNIA 143 

grapple with it. He sent Captain Mervine, of the Navy, and a 
force of marines to the port of San Pedro with orders to march 
upon and recapture Los Angeles. The advance of INIervine's party 
was stopped at Dominguez' Rancho. In the engagement that 
ensued several of his men were killed and he was obliged to fall 
back with his force to San Pedro. Stockton in his flagship, the 
Congress, arrived there two weeks later, on October 23rd. He 
had now altogether at this port eight hundred men, but, notwith- 
standing this fact, he decided it would be impracticable to march 
thirty miles to Los Angeles to make another attempt at its recap- 
ture, and, assigning as a reason the superiority of the harbor as a 
base, he determined to attack by way of San Diego! The fol- 
lowing month or so was devoted to preparations for a resump- 
tion of the campaign, but news was expected any day that Fremont 
had arrived at Los Angeles and settled with the enemy. Fremont, 
however, was taking his time on his southward journey, caution 
requiring him to march by the difficult mountainous route in- 
stead of the quicker shore way. As late as Christmas day he had 
gotten no farther than the pass above Santa Barbara. 

Such, then, was the situation in December, 1846, when 
Brigadier-General Kearny and his escort of dragoons approached 
the eastern gate of California, after an arduous march over the 
desert from Santa Fe. Before going further let us see what he 
had been doing so that we may appreciate his present situation. 

(Stephen Watts Kearny was born in 1794 at Newark, N. J.; 
educated at Columbia College, New York; appointed First Lieu- 
tenant 13th Infantry, U. S. A., March 12, 1812; served in the 
war of 1 81 2; became Captain April i, 18 13; received brevet as 
Major in 1823 for ten years' faithful service in one grade; Major, 
3rd Infantry, 1829; when the First Regiment of dragoons [later 
known as the First Cavalry] was organized. In 1833, he was 
made its Lieutenant Colonel, and entrusted with the task of devis- 



144 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

ing a system of cavalry tactics for this new arm of the service. He 
was thus the father of our present cavalry service. The regiment 
became the model corps of the Army. He was Colonel in com- 
mand from 1836 to 1846, and during this time made many remote 
expeditions to the Indian tribes, over which he acquired great 
personal influence. Among the Osages, Kanzas, and kindred 
tribes he was known as Shonga Kahega Mahetonga [The Horse- 
Chief of the Long Knives]. He served in nearly every frontier 
army post from the northern to the southern border, and more 
than one he himself built. In the Mexican War he was given com- 
mand of the " Army of the West," was promoted to Brigadier 
General; he marched overland and conducted the western opera- 
tions, taking possession of New Mexico and completing the con- 
quest of California; was brevetted Major General for gallant and 
meritorious conduct in this region, to date from the battle of 
San Pascual, December, 1846; was Military and Civil Governor 
of California in 1847, ^^ Vera Cruz, March, 1848, and of the City 
of Mexico, May, 1848. He died October 31st of the same 
year.) 

Kearny had left Fort Leavenworth with a force approximating 
"fifteen hundred men, consisting of Missouri Volunteers and a por- 
ition of his regiment of dragoons, and known as the " Army of 
the West." The march across the plains and over tlie moun- 
tains was one of the most hazardous and romantic undertakings 
in military annals, as much of the region traversed was prac- 
tically devoid of wood and water. Although traders' caravans 
had been able to go back and forth over the trail to Santa Fe, 
living on the game shot from day to day, it was far more diffi- 
cult for an army to subsist in the same way, it not being possible 
to carry along sufficient commissary stores for the entire march. 
The troops reached Santa Fe on August i8th — a march of a thou- 
sand miles in thirty-four days. Santa Fe, the seat of government 



CALIFORNIA 145 

of New Mexico and the leading trading-post in the southwest, 
was occupied " without firing a gun or spilling a drop of blood." 
As soon as the General had taken formal possession of the terri- 
tory in the name of the United States, established a civil govern- 
ment, and conciliated the inhabitants, he turned his eyes toward 
the Pacific, his ultimate destination being Monterey. He took 
with him three hundred dragoons, who must have presented a 
striking appearance in their shabby patched clothing and mounted 
on mules, because it was believed that horses could not travel to 
California and that even if they could, they probably would be 
less serviceable there than mules. 

He set out on September 25th. His orders were to gain pos- 
session of California, co-operating for that purpose with the 
naval forces, which probably would be found in possession of the 
seaports, and having effected a conquest of the country he was to 
organize a civil government. There would follow him to California 
additional troops, consisting of an infantry battalion of five hun- 
dred Mormon volunteers, a regiment of New York volunteers, 
and a company of regular artillery, which were en route by sea. 
It was also contemplated to send later Col. Sterling Price and his 
regiment of Missouri volunteers, who had not yet arrived at 
Santa Fe. The whole force, it was believed, would be ample to 
annex and hold California. 

General Kearny's column on October 6th, when near Socorro, 
New Mexico, met Kit Carson, the scout, on his way to Wash- 
ington with despatches from Stockton and Fremont announcing 
the acquisition of California and the complete subjugation of its 
inhabitants. In consequence of this news Kearny felt it would 
be unnecessary and unwise to take with him so large a force, espe- 
cially as the other troops en route by sea, would serve all needful 
purposes. The war was still in progress in old Mexico, and it 
seemed good policy to leave at Santa Fe as many men as could 



146 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

be spared. So the General sent back two hundred of the dra- 
goons, retaining one hundred as a personal escort rather than as 
a force likely to be called upon to battle with the enemy. Not- 
withstanding the changed situation on the coast he felt in duty 
bound to continue his march thither, because his orders re- 
quired him to take command of the Department of California 
and to establish a government for the inhabitants. As the party 
had still to traverse the most difficult and least known region, the 
General prudently decided to utilize the services of Kit Carson 
as a guide, and to forward his despatches by other hands. Car- 
son strongly protested against having to turn back and retrace 
his journey, for he was expecting to see his family in a few 
days more. Kearny probably disliked to inconvenience Carson, 
but military necessity justified it. 

The party, now greatly diminished in numbers, resumed the 
march and soon found itself beset with hardships more severe than 
any yet experienced, the greatest suffering being from the lack 
of provisions and water. By the time the Colorado River was 
reached, on November 22nd, many of the animals had been lost, 
some had been eaten, and the rest were in bad condition. Most 
cf the men were obliged to trudge along on foot. Near the 
junction of the Colorado and Gila rivers they found the remains 
of a camp and the recent evidence of many horses, at least a 
thousand, as they estimated, which led them to believe that they 
had come upon the trail of General Castro, and that he was re- 
turning from Mexico with a fresh army to drive out the Ameri- 
cans. Kearny felt that his own party was too small to be able 
to resist an attack, and that the only way to take the enemy at a 
disadvantage would be to attack him, by surprise if possible. 
If Castro's camp could be found he would fall upon it the moment 
night set in, with the darkness concealing his own weakness. The 
reconnaissance that he immediately ordered to be made, revealed 



CALIFORNIA 147 

not Castro but a small party of Mexicans on their way to Sonora 
with five hundred horses from California. The dragoons thought 
they saw a chance to get some remounts, but to their disappoint- 
ment the horses proved to be unbroken and few of them were of 
much use. On the next day they captured a Mexican courier 
bearing mail from the coast. They then got the first intelligence 
that the Californians had risen and under Flores had expelled 
the Americans from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and other places. 
Accustomed to Mexican exaggeration, they took this news with a 
grain of salt, but at the same time they felt that something seri- 
ous might have happened. On December 2nd, at Warner's Rancho, 
the extreme eastern settlement of California, they received fur- 
ther reports, seemingly more reliable, that the Californians were 
in possession of practically the whole southern country, except 
the port of San Diego. General Kearny thereupon despatched 
a note to Commodore Stockton, asking him if possible to " send 
a party to open communication with us on the route to this place 
and to inform me of the state of affairs in California." The Com- 
modore's reply, sent the next day, was as follows: 

" Headquarters, S. Diego, December 3d, 6.30 p.m. 
" Sir, 

" I have this moment received your note of yesterday by 
Mr. Stokes, and have ordered Captain Gillespie with a detach- 
ment of mounted riflemen and a field piece to proceed to your 
camp without delay. Captain G. is well informed in relation 
to the present state of things in California, and will give you all 
needful information. I need not therefore detain him by saying 
anything on the subject. I will merely state that I have this eve- 
ning received information by two deserters from the rebel camp 
of the arrival of an additional force of 100 men, which, in addi- 
tion to the force previously here, makes their number about 150. 



148 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

I send with Captain G., as a guide, one of the deserters, that you 
may make inquiries of him, and, if you see fit, endeavor to sur- 
prise them. Faithfully your obedient servant, 

" Robt. F. Stockton, 
" Commander-in-Chief and Governor of the Territory of 
California, etc." 

In his report to the Secretary of the Navy, of February i8, 
1848, Commodore Stockton states that the volunteer party accom- 
panying Gillespie consisted of Acting Lieutenant Beale, Passed 
Midshipman Duncan, ten carbineers from the U. S. S. Congress, 
Captain Gibson, and twenty-five of the California Battalion of 
Volunteers. 

They reached Kearny on the 5th, when he was about forty 
miles from San Diego, and brought him the first advices of the 
presence of the enemy in that direction. Although the dragoons 
were pretty well used up after their toilsome overland march, the 
prospect of trying conclusions with the foe gave them new ardor. 
A reconnaissance developed that a force of the enemy was then 
at the village of San Pascual, about three leagues distant, and, 
owing to the fact that the reconnoitering party had accidentally 
revealed itself to the enemy, it was thought advisable to attack, 
and to force a passage to San Diego. It was then after midnight, 
and the call to horse was at once sounded. The column was 
arranged in the following order: an advance guard of twelve 
dragoons under Capt. A. R. Johnston, mounted on the best horses 
available; the General, with Lieutenants Emory and Warner, of 
the Topographical Engineers, fifty dragoons under Captain 
Moore, nearly all mounted on the tired and stiff mules which 
they had ridden from Santa Fe, and about twenty of the Cali- 
fornia detachment of dragoons under Lieutenant Davidson, in 
charge- of two mountain howitzers. The rest of the men, in- 



CALIFORNIA 149 

eluding those from the fleet, were in the rear with Major Swords 
and the baggage train. 

(Lieutenant Emory, the topographical officer and diarist of the 
expedition, was brevetted Captain for his gallantry at San Pascual. 
He had a distinguished Army service, rising to be Major-General 
of Volunteers in the Civil War. He retired from the Army as 
Brigadier-General in 1876, and died at Washington in 1887. 
W. H. Warner, junior topographical officer of the party, was also 
brevetted for gallantry at San Pascual, and was killed in 1849 
by hostile Indians in the Sierra Nevada; being then a captain. 
Major Thomas Swords, of the Quartermaster's Department, rose 
to be one of the best-known officers in his department, receiving 
the brevet of Major-General for faithful and efficient service dur- 
ing the Civil War. He retired from the Army in 1869, ^^d died 
in 1886.) 

The night was intensely disagreeable on account of the cold 
and rain, and the clothes of the men were thoroughly soaked. 
They had covered the nine miles of hilly country before the 
break of dawn and found themselves at San Pascual in sight 
of the enemy. Capt. Andres Pico, in command of the hostile 
force, had counted on being able to withdraw to some favorable 
cover, from which to make a dash at the Americans, whose num- 
ber he had overestimated, but seeing only a score of horsemen 
(the advance guard) coming toward him, he resolved to make a 
stand. His men fired a volley and poised their lances to receive 
the charge of the dragoons. At the discharge Captain Johnston 
fell with a musket ball in his forehead. Then came the clash. 
In the hand-to-hand encounter, the advance guard would soon 
have been overwhelmed, had not the main party come into view. 
Pico's men now turned and fled, pursued by the Americans 
strung out at uneven distances, owing to the inequalities of their 
mounts. Those on the fresh horses naturally got far in the lead, 



150 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

while those on the poor mules fell behind. Pico's men, all skil- 
ful riders and well mounted, were quick-witted enough to see 
the vulnerability of the American situation. Deftly turning in 
their tracks they rushed back to engage in detail. The renewed 
action was brief but bloody. Firearms were discarded because 
empty or rain-soaked. The fight was one of saber against lance, 
the Americans on broken-down mules or half-broken horses, the 
Californians on trained fresh steeds, an unequal contest from every 
standpoint. Our men fought with great bravery against great 
odds and the General himself was in the thick of the melee. 
Few of those in front escaped injury; he received two ugly lance- 
wounds, and might have been killed but for the timely aid of 
Lieutenant Emory, who put a pistol ball through his assailant 
as he was about to make another thrust. For about five minutes 
the Californians held their ground, but when they saw the how- 
itzer detachment coming up they fled the field, this time not to 
return. 

The Americans, left in possession of the battle-ground, were in 
no condition to pursue, and went into camp. Their casualties, as 
finally determined, were eighteen killed, nineteen wounded, and 
one missing. On the enemy's side at least a dozen were wounded, 
but how many were killed, if any, is not known. 

The numbers engaged in the fight at San Pascual raises a ques- 
tion as to the accuracy of the historian H. H. Bancroft, who would 
like to convey the impression that Kearny's effectives in the fight 
outnumbered those of the enemy. He overlooks the fact that 
fifty or sixty of the party were a mile in the rear with the bag- 
gage train, under the quartermaster. Major Swords, and conse- 
quently were never engaged, and that the howitzer detachment 
came up after the assault and did not get into the action because 
its appearance had caused the enemy to retire. The number of 
Americans actually engaged was probably between eighty and 



CALIFORNIA 151 

ninety, and because of circumstances already noticed, the brunt 
must have fallen on still fewer, that is, on the advance guard and 
the main party, who of course were considerably outnumbered. 
But it is General Kearny's statement of the enemy's number that 
appears particularly to arouse Mr. Bancroft's scorn. Said 
Kearny in his report: '^ The enemy proved to be a party of about 
160 Californians under Andres Pico." 

Shortly after the fxght authentic accounts were received " that 
his (Pico's) number was 180 men engaged in the fight, and that 
100 additional men were sent from the Pueblo (de los Angeles), 
which reached his camp on the 7th." This is taken from the offi- 
cial notes of Lieutenant Emory, of the Topographical Engineers, 
whose account of the whole campaign was published by the gov- 
ernment and has always been regarded as reliable authority. 

In consequence of General Kearny's wounds Capt. H. S. 
Turner was placed temporarily in command. He despatched a 
report of the situation to Commodore Stockton, by Midshipman 
Beale (who valorously made his way to San Diego), suggesting 
that a reinforcement be sent out to meet the party, whose advance 
the watchful enemy, now in greater number, were ready to dis- 
pute at all the passes. Four days the Americans remained in 
camp. For food they were reduced to mule-flesh, but they were 
able to get water by boring holes. Within twenty-four hours of 
being wounded General Kearny had resumed the command, and 
on the evening of the fourth day, when their spirits were heaviest, 
they were suddenly gladdened by the arrival of two hundred 
sailors and marines who, under Lieutenant Gray, of the Navy, 
had come to their relief. Confronted by this efficient force the 
enemy retired to the north and the Americans without molesta- 
tion made their way to San Diego. 

With the General and his dragoons in San Diego recovering 
from their wounds and fatigue before being called upon to under- 



152 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

take the next step in tlie subjugation of California, we may digress 
a moment to read an interesting account, from General Kearny's 
own pen, of the experiences just passed through, of the condi- 
tion of affairs on the coast as he found them a week after his 
arrival, and an outline of what he intended to do. The document, 
a letter to his wife, has recently become available through the 
generosity of Henry S. Kearny, Esq., a son of the General, and 
by courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society, its custodian, it 
was for the first time made public through a reading before the 
Historical Society of Southern California, February 6, 191 1, by 
Valentine Mott Porter, Vice-President of the Missouri Historical 
Society. 

" San Diego, Upper California, December 19, 1846. 
" My dear Mary: 

" I have been here one week — have been anxious to write to 
you, but no means of sending. In two days IVIajor Swords will 
leave for the Sandwich Islands to get provisions, & I must write 
by him, hoping that he may find there some vessel about starting 
for the U. States. 

" I know my dear wife that you may be uneasy about me, 
separated as we are so far from each other. Let me therefore in 
the first place tell you that I am moving about as if nothing had 
happened to me, that my appetite is perfectly good, & that I 
feel but very little inconvenience from my wounds. They are 
healing up much faster than I could have expected, & in one 
week more I think I shall be perfectly and entirely recovered. 
As a good Christian you will unite with me in thanks to our 
God, who directs all things, that He has preserved me thro* the 
perils & dangers that surrounded me. 

" I have written a report to the Adjutant General of our action 
of the 6th December that may probably be published in the 



CALIFORNIA 153 

papers, when you will see it. In the mean time I have to tell you 
that on the 6th at daybreak, with about 80 men, we attacked a 
party of 160 Mexicans, which we defeated after an hour's fight- 
ing, & drove them from the field. We gained a victory over the 
enemy, but paid most dearly for it. Capts. Moore & Johnson, 
& Lieut. Hammond, with 2 Sergts, 2 Corpls & 10 Privs. of 
Dragoons were killed — about 16 of us were wounded, myself in 
two places in the left side by lances, one of which bled very 
freely, which was of advantage to me. The loss of our killed is 
deeply felt by all, particularly by myself, who very much miss 
my aid Johnston, who was a most excellent & talented soldier, 
& Capt. !Moore, who displayed great courage & chivalry in the 
fight, as did Lieut. Hammond. Capt. Turner is now with me — 
he is perfectly well — was not wounded, but had his jacket, tho' 
not his skin, torn. Lieut. Warner of the Topo. Engs. received 
three wounds, but is now nearly well. Mr. Robideaux, m.y inter- 
preter, is wounded but is recovering. Poor Johnston's loss will 
be felt by many & perhaps not least by Miss Cotheal, a sister 
of Mrs. !Maj. Swords, to whom he was engaged. I have now, 
my dear wife, given you some items so that your own mind may 
be easy. Do not think that I am worse than I represent myself, 
for it is not so. I expect in less than a week to be on my horse 
& as active as I ever was. 

^' Your brother William I learn is quite well — he is on the War- 
ren & in the Bay of San Francisco, about a week's sail from 
here. I hope to see him ere long. He will not be able to get 
back to the U. S. before next summer. Commodore Stockton is 
at this place with 3 of his ships & has 4 or 500 of his Sailors 
& Marines here in town to garrison it. Among them are many 
very clever fellows, & some messmates of Williams's, who lately 
left the Warren & from whom I have heard of him. 

" We had a very long & tiresome march of it from Santa F6. 



154 OL^ NAVAL DAYS 

We came down the Del Norte 230 miles — then to the River 
Gila (pronounced Hela). . . . We marched 500 miles down that 
River, having most of the way a bridle path, but over a very 
rough and barren country. It surprised me to see so much land 
that can never be of any use to man or beast. We traveled many 
days without seeing a spear of grass, and no vegetation excepting 
a species of Fremontia, & the mesquite tree, something like our 
thorn, & which our mules ate, thorns and branches, to keep 
them alive. After crossing the Colorado & getting about 100 
miles this side of it, the country improved, & about here is 
well enough, tho' having but very little timber & but few run- 
ning streams — the climate is very dry & tho' this is the rainy 
season of the year, yet we have more clouds to threaten us, than 
rain to fall upon us — there is no certainty of a crop in this part 
of the world, unless the land is irrigated from running streams. 

" Lieut. Col. Fremont is still in California, & we are daily 
expecting to hear from him. He went up the Coast to raise 
Volunteers, from the Emigrants from Missouri, to attack the Cali- 
fornians, 700 of whom are now said to be in arms about 100 miles 
from here. Fremont, it is supposed, is not far from tliere — if he 
has not force enough, it is expected that he will send word to us. 
I have not heard of Capt. Cooke & the Mormons, tho' hope to 
see them here in less than a month. I am also ignorant where the 
Volunteers and the Artillery from New York are, or when to 
expect them. The great difiiculty of getting information here 
renders it necessary that all our plans should be well considered 
before attempting to put them into execution. W^hen I get the 
Volunteers into the country, I can drive the enemy out of it with 
ease, tho' at present they have the advantage of us, as they are 
admirably mounted and the very best riders in the world — hardly 
one that is not fit for the Circus. This is a great Country for 
cattle & horses, very many of both run wild & are never caught 



CALIFORNIA 155 

except when wanted for beef or to be broken — a fine mare is 
worth about $2 — an unbroken horse $5 — a broken one $10 — 
so you see that horse flesh is cheap. 

" If you have any curiosity to know where San Diego is, you 
will find it on the maps in lat. 33° on the Pacific & not far 
from the lower end of Upper California. We have the ocean in 
sight, & hear the rolling waves which sound like rumbling 
thunder. We have abundance of fine fish, furnished us by the 
Navy, who each day catch enough in their nets to supply all. In 
6 days we shall have Christmas & a week from that a New 
Year. May we all live my dear Mary to be reunited before 
the year is past. You must take good care of yourself & all 
our little ones, so that when I return our numbers will be com- 
plete. I have not heard from you since your letter to me of the 
19th August (4 months since). . . . What great changes have 
taken place in the Regt. (ist U. S. Dragoons), within the last 
6 months. Phil has been for years sighing for a Captaincy." 
(" Phil," a nephew, was the celebrated Phil Kearny, who became 
a Major-General in the Civil War, and was killed at Chantilly, 
Va., in 1862.) " He is now entitled to Compy B, which was poor 
Johnston^s. . . . Take care of yourself and the young ones. 
Regards to John & Sophie. I hope they like their farm near 
Saint Louis. I wonder how you get on in the management of 
business, etc., etc. 

^' Love again to you & the children. Yours ever m.ost truly, 

" S. W. K." 

General Kearny had come to California with orders from the 
President to take possession of the territory and as a sequel 
thereto to organize a civil government. On his arrival he found 
the country, with the exception of the few seaports, still in posses- 
sion of the inhabitants. Under his instructions it became his duty 



156 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

to establish the supremacy of the United States. Prior to his 
arrival Commodore Stockton, who had been acting as Commander- 
in-Chief and Governor, being the senior American officer on the 
coast, had taken a superficial possession of California, but not 
only had he lost the greater part of it, but the task of reconquering 
the people was now made harder than if he had done nothing. 
General Kearny exhibited to the Commodore his instructions, with 
the expectation, no doubt, of succeeding him in the chief com- 
mand. The Commodore had no instructions other than those that 
had come to his predecessor, Commodore Sloat, and these did not 
go as far as to authorize a land movement by the naval forces. 
Nevertheless, Commodore Stockton declined to turn over the 
chief command of the land forces or the position of governor. 
General Kearny, thus prevented from carrying out his orders, for 
he had but a handful of his own troops to back up his authority, 
against several hundred naval men at the command of Stockton, 
was in a very awkward situation. Until the arrival of other land 
forces who would report to him, he was powerless. Making the 
best of the matter, therefore, he deferred asserting his rights, 
and, as gracefully as he could, tried to avoid friction. Although 
the Commodore was unwilling to resign the chief control of affairs 
he did offer to give the General subordinate command of the 
troops. This was declined for cogent reasons. Any land move- 
ment that might have to be undertaken the General would natu- 
rally want to direct, but before such a movement became neces- 
sary the additional troops might arrive and enable him to carry 
out his instructions. As we learn from his letter it was tlie sup- 
position at San Diego that the first blow at the enemy, then gath- 
ered about Los Angeles, would soon be struck by Fremont's bat- 
talion, which had been com.ing down the coast, and news of an 
engagement was momentarily expected. The letter indicates that 
as late as December 19th there was no impending movement 



CALIFORNIA 157 

from San Diego, and that unless Fremont should call for support 
no advance was contemplated for the present. Three days later, 
however, we learn from letters that passed between them, that 
Stockton discussed with Kearny the propriety of taking a force 
from San Diego as far at least as San Luis Rey, on the route to 
Los Angeles, in order to be able more conveniently to co-operate 
with Fremont, if called upon, or to cut off a possible retreat of 
the enemy should Fremont defeat but not pursue him. If, on 
the other hand, the support were not needed, the troops could 
return to San Diego without having to make a long march. The 
General, in an opinion he wrote after the interview, advised a 
march not merely to San Luis Rey, but all the way to Los 
Angeles ( inferentially without waiting to hear from Fremont), for 
the purpose of joining with him at once or creating a diversion 
in his favor. He said, in his letter to Stockton: " If you can 
take from here a sufficient force " for the purpose named, " I 
advise that you do so. . . .1 do not think that Lt. Col Fre- 
mont should be left unsupported to fight a battle upon which 
the fate of California may for a long time depend." This advice 
the Commodore resented as being gratuitous and merely re- 
flective of the course he had himself proposed, and also (without 
seeing the inconsistency), because it would leave the base at San 
Diego unprotected. The General, in a polite reply, disclaiming 
any intention to advise a movement that would jeopardize the 
safety of the garrison or the ships in the harbor, said further: 
" My letter of yesterday's date stated that, ' // you can take from 
here,* etc., etc., of which you were the judge, & of which I 
knew nothing." This preliminary skirmish in a controversy that 
later became bitter is cited merely to show that Stockton's letter 
to Kearny does not substantiate his subsequent claim to have 
been the first to suggest an unconditional movement all the way 
to Los Angeles to join Fremont. His plan, as we have seen, was 



158 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

to march only as far as San Luis Rey, a continuation to Los 
Angeles being contingent upon a call from Fremont. Kearny's 
plan was the one actually followed. They did not wait to 
hear from Fremont, and he never sent any word. As a matter 
of fact, they got to Los Angeles before he did, and fought the 
expected battle. 

A decision to advance having been arrived at by the Com- 
modore, preparations began forthwith. Practically all the avail- 
able troops consisting of about sixty unmounted dragoons under 
Captain Turner, fifty California volunteers, and over four hun- 
dred sailors and marines, with six pieces of artillery, were chosen 
to go. General Kearny reconsidered his declination to take 
charge of the troops, realizing probably that in the face of what 
might prove to be a serious campaign, requiring the exercise of 
military skill, it was his duty as an experienced army man to give 
his services and to put aside temporarily the question of rank. 
The Commodore acquiesced, but announced to the officers that 
while the General would be in command of the troops, he himself 
would go along as " commander-in-chief." The General let him feel 
that way about it, but he evidently expected from the Commodore 
little if any interference with his own conduct of the movement. 
His orders from Washington directed him to co-operate with the 
naval forces, and he would do all he could to avoid friction. 
Lieutenant Emory, who acted as the assistant adjutant-general 
in this campaign, subsequently wrote: *' No order of any moment 
was given, either in the fight of the 8th or the 9th, which was not 
given by General Kearny in person, or through the undersigned, 
as his acting assistant adjutant-general. General Kearny com- 
manded in both battles." 

The troops marched out of San Diego on December 29th. 
Progress was slow, due to the poor condition of the animals and 
the difficulty in getting the clumsy carretas, loaded with ammuni- 



CALIFORNIA 159 

tion and provisions, through the deep sand and over the rough 
hills. On January 8th, at the crossing of the San Gabriel River, 
the enemy was waiting to receive them. General Flores, self- 
styled governor, since the abdication of Pico, was in command. 
He had posted five hundred men on a bluff some six or eight 
hundred yards back from the river and two of his cannon oppo- 
site the ford. On the flanks were squadrons of cavalry under 
Andres Pico, Manuel Garfias, and Jose Antonio Carillo. The 
Americans moved across in the form of a square, the front cov- 
ered by a strong party of skirmishers, the rear by a company of 
carbineers, the flanks with the remainder of the command. The 
cattle and wagon train were placed in the center of this formation, 
which was dubbed by the sailors a " Yankee Corral." The artil- 
lery was at the four angles. This order of march was adopted as 
the best means of repelling the enemy's cavalry and became the 
habitual formation when in the presence of the enemy. The 
Americans had no cavalry, the dragoons being unmounted, and 
one of the enemy's tricks was to try to run off the cattle by sud- 
den charges. As the square moved across the ford, the enemy 
opened fire. The Americans continued to advance, wading 
through the shallow water, and pulling along the guns. When 
they had gained the opposite bank they opened up with their 
artillery, providing a cover under which the wagons and cattle 
were taken across, although with some difficulty because of 
quicksands. Charges by the enemy on the rear and the left 
flank were successfully met. Meanwhile a lively cannonading was 
in progress on both sides, but the enemy's powder, made at San 
Gabriel, was nothing to boast of. In an hour and a half all had 
crossed, the opposing artillery was silenced, and the bluff cap- 
tured. The enemy retreated in the direction of Los Angeles, but 
the Americans having no means of pursuit went into camp. 
The next day (9th) the advance was resumed, the column mov- 



i6o OLD NAVAL DAYS 

ing across the open plain or mesa between the San Gabriel and 
Los Angeles rivers. At the end of five or six miles the enemy's 
line was discovered to the right in a favorable position. The 
Americans deflected to the left, and when abreast of the enemy- 
were fired upon by artillery at long range. An artillery duel 
ensued, continuing for several hours as the Army advanced in its 
habitual square. One or two cavalry charges were repulsed with 
some slight loss on both sides. Finally the Californians with- 
drew, carrying off their dead and wounded. A renewal of the 
attack was expected, but the next morning (loth) a flag of truce 
was brought in by residents of Los Angeles, who said no resist- 
ance would be offered to the entry of the Americans into the city. 
In return the citizens were guaranteed full protection. The army 
accordingly marched in, but not without observing due precau- 
tion against treachery, for Governor Flores had already broken 
faith in breaking his parole given at the time of the first occu- 
pation. Barring a few minor disturbances, the reoccupation of 
the town was accompanied with no disorder. 

The American flag was once again raised at Los Angeles, this 
time not to be lowered. Flores, who probably expected no mercy 
from Stockton or Kearny, each of whom had threatened to have 
him shot if captured because of his broken parole, had abdicated 
the command of his shattered forces to Andres Pico and betaken 
himself to Mexico. For similar reasons Pico found it incon- 
venient to capitulate to the Commodore or the General, and 
resolved to see what he could do with Fremont, who, he discov- 
ered, was then approaching Los x\ngeles via Cahuenga Pass. 
Without for a moment questioning his own authority Fremont 
jumped at the offer and granted decidedly favorable terms, thereby 
increasing his popularity with the people of the country. Both 
Stockton and Kearney were somewhat vexed at his assumption 
of authority, but they decided to ratify his act rather than stir 



CALIFORNIA i6l 

up trouble. So ended all hostilities between the Californians and 
the Americans, and none remained excepting between the leaders 
on the victorious side. This phase will require but brief dis- 
cussion, as the issues involved were adjudicated officially and are 
matters of public record. 

As we have seen, the first " conquest " so-called, was specious 
and superficial. As it turned out, the first real fighting took place 
after Kearny's arrival, and the final, actual conquest was made 
practically under his leadership. 

As, however, Stockton and Fremont continued to ignore his 
authority and instructions, and as Kearny lacked troops with 
which to enforce his orders, he merely protested against the or- 
ganization of a civil government by Stockton, and warned him 
in these words: ''As I am prepared to carry out the President's 
instructions to me, which you oppose, I must for the purpose of 
preventing collision between us and possibly a civil war in con- 
sequence of it, remain silent for the present, leaving with you 
the great responsibility of doing that for which you have no 
authority, and preventing me from complying with the Presi- 
dent's orders."^ 

General Kearny, with his dragoons, thereupon left Los Angeles 
and returned to San Diego. There the Battalion of Mormon 
Infantry, over three hundred strong, under Lieut. Col. P. St. G. 
Cooke, reported to him a few days later, on January 29th. Leav- 
ing these troops in the south the General embarked for Monterey, 
where he found Captain Tompkins and his company of regular 
artillery, with a large supply of guns, ammunition, entrenching 
tools, etc., waiting to report to him. 

(With this company of artillery were Lieuts. W. T. Sherman, 
O. C. Ord, and H. W. Halleck, all of whom became famous gen- 
erals in the Civil War.) 

1 " Fremont's Court-martial," pp. 79-80. 



1 62 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

What was even more gratifying to him, Commodore Shubrick 
had arrived, with orders to succeed Stockton in command of the 
Pacific Squadron, and he unhesitatingly recognized Kearny's au- 
thority. The General was now in a position successfully to assert 
his authority and he set about to organize a civil government, 
fixing upon Monterey as the capital. On March ist he assumed 
the governorship and entered upon his duties. 

Meanwhile, at Los Angeles, Commodore Stockton had issued 
(January i6th) a commission to Fremont as governor. For the 
ensuing month or so Fremont claimed to be exercising the duties 
of the office, but as his sphere of influence did not extend much 
beyond the limits of the town of Los Angeles in that early day, 
they were not very onerous. From General Kearny he received 
an order to report to him at once at Monterey, bringing along 
those of his volunteers who declined to remain in the service and 
who wished their discharge, and also to deliver ail public docu- 
ments in his control pertaining to the government of California. 
After taking his time about it and making various excuses, mean- 
while having received later orders to the same effect, he reluctantly 
came to Monterey, but instead of rendering obedience at once to 
the General, tried to parley with him, his manner being far from 
respectful. The General asked him pointblank if he intended 
to obey orders, telling him to take an hour, or a day, to think it 
over. Fremont retired for meditation. Realizing, very likely, 
that his absurd pretensions would not be supported at Wash- 
ington, he returned in about an hour and gave an affirmative 
answer. 

An extract from a report to the Hon. George Bancroft, Secre- 
tary of the Navy, by Commodore W. Branford Shubrick, dated 
"Monterey, February 15, 1847," reads: "I have recognized in 
General Kearny the senior officer of the Army in California; 
have consulted and shall co-operate with him as such; and I feel 



CALIFORNIA 163 

that I am particularly fortunate in having so gallant a soldier 
and so intelligent a gentleman to aid me in such parts of my 
duty as do not appertain strictly to my profession. ..." 

" On the eleventh instant, General Kearny left here (Monterey) 
in the sloop-of-war Cyane for San Francisco to examine that, as 
he had done this harbor, with a view to the location of permanent 
fortifications. I directed Commander Du Pont to relieve Com- 
mander Hull at Yerba Buena, and Captain Mervine to bring the 
Warren with him to this place." 

Amongst the mail that General Kearny carried with him to 
San Francisco was the following letter written by the Captain of 
the U. S. S. Portsmouth: 

" San Diego, January 30, 1847. 
" My dear Sir, 

" Confiding in the protecting care of an ever kind Providence, 
I have been led steadily to cherish the hope, that your missing 
launch has been captured, or fallen by some means into the hands 
of the enemy — and that my sons and others that v/ere in her 
are still safe. 

^' Should this my dear Sir, prove to be the case, it is probable 
that my Sons will have arrived at Yerba Buena before the de- 
parture of the Cyane from that port — in which case, you will 
add much to my present indebtedness by causing my Son Elliott 
to take passage in her with the view of joining me on the coast 
of Mexico, where I am going almost immediately. 

" Otherwise, should it be ascertained or there exist sufficient 
reason for apprehending that all are lost, which God forbid! you 
will confer a favor by writing me (by the Cyane) all particulars 
which you may have gathered in relation to the unhappy 
disaster. 

" With an expression of my sincere congratulations on the 



1 64 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

pleasure you will derive from a meeting with your Brother-in- 
law General Kearny, who has kindly promised to hand you this, 
I subscribe myself 

" Dear Sir, Your Obdt. Servt., 

" Jno. B. Montgomery, U. S. N. 
" To Lieut. Radford, U. S. S. Warren. 

" N. B. Capt. Du Pont will take charge of letters — or any- 
thing you may have to forward me. J. B. M." 

An entry in the Warren's log of December 21, 1846, reads: 

" Yerba Buena — All the boats that were sent in search of our 
Launch having returned without having received the least in- 
telligence in regard to her fate, it is therefore to be conjectured 
that she is lost, together with the following officers and men viz. 
Act. Master Wm. H, IMontgomery, of this ship. Midn. D. E. 
Hugunin & Capt. Clerk John E. INIontgomery of the Portsmouth. 
Ten men. Arms & ammunition lost." 

Capt. John B. IMontgomery whose two sons, one Acting 
Master on U. S. S. Warren, and the other a captain's clerk, 
were drowned in the tragic and mysterious loss of the Warren's 
launch in November, 1846, was the officer who, on July 9th, had, 
in obedience to orders from Commodore Sloat, hauled down the 
Mexican flag and run up the Stars and Stripes on the Plaza of 
Yerba Buena, under a salute of twenty-one guns from the U. S. 
Sloop-of-war Portsmouth. The Plaza was rechristened '' Ports- 
mouth Square," and the street bordering the harbor was named 
for Montgomery. 

On February 17, 1847, General Kearny visited the Warren at 
Yerba Buena and was received on board with a salute of thirteen 
guns. 

Either during this visit or shortly afterwards the question of 



CALIFORNIA 165 

Lieutenant Radford's return to the United States with his brother- 
in-law's command must have been broached, with the result shown 
in the following application: 

^' U. S. Ship Warren, Monterey, California, 
" May 3, 1847, 
" Sir, 

" Learning from Gen'l Kearny that he contemplates returning 
to the United States some time in June next, I respectfully request 
Commodore Biddle's permission to accompany him. 

" I would not make the above application were the ship to 
which I am attached in the condition of an efficient and active 
cruiser ; 

" I have the honor to be, with respect, 

" Your Ob't Serv't, 

'' Wm. Radford, 
" Lt. U. S. Navy. 
" Commodore James Biddle, 
" Comdg. Pacific Squadron." 

Commodore Shubrick had been succeeded in command by Com- 
modore Biddle, whose reply to the above application was as 
follows: 

" U. S. Ship Columbus, 
" Monterey, May, 20, 1847, 

" Sir, 

" I have received your letter applying for leave to return home 
by land in company with General Kearny, As you have been 
nearly four years abroad on duty, you have my permission, at 
your own expense to accompany General Kearny across the moun- 
tains. On arriving at your home within the United States, report 



i66 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

by letter to the Secretary of the Navy, forwarding a copy of this 

letter. 

" Very Respectfully, 

" Your Most Obedient 
" James Biddle, 

Comg. Pacific Squadron. 

" Lieut. Wm. Radford, 
" U. S. Ship Warren, 
"J. B. Hull, Commander." 

From log of U. S. S. Warren, December 2, 1844, at Monterey. 
Joseph B. Hull, Commander, 
Lieutenants, 
William Radford Wm. B. Renshaw 

Wm. L. Murray John Rutledge 

Surgeon 
Wm. J. Powell 
Purser 
Thomas R. Ware 
Acting Master 
Wm. H. Montgomery 
Asst. Surgeon 
Edmund Hudson 
Midshipmen 
Fred Kellogg R- ^- Minor 

Thos. J. McRoberts And. W. Johnson 

Walter O. Crain Alex. M. de Brie 

Stanwix Gansewort 
Forward Officers 
John Walker Boatswain 



CHAPTER XII 
CROSSING THE PLAINS 

General Kearny, who had come to California with orders 
from President Polk to " take possession of the territory and as 
a sequel thereto to organize a civil government," had, on March 
I, 1847, assumed the governorship, and entered upon his duties. 
Having secured permission before leaving the East to return as 
soon as peace and quiet should reign in California, he, after see- 
ing the civil government organized and in good working order, 
turned over the governorship to Col. Richard B. Mason, who 
had succeeded him in command of the First U. S. Dragoons, and 
prepared to depart. 

On the 31st of May General Kearny left Monterey on his 
return journey to the United States, in company with Lieutenant- 
Colonel Cooke, of the First Dragoons, Major Thomas Swords, 
and Captain Turner, " all officers who had largely and honorably 
participated in the conquest of California and New Mexico; and 
with Lieutenant Radford of the U. S. Navy, who had distinguished 
himself both at Mazatlan and in California."^ 

Other members of the party were Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, 
the Hon. Willard P. Hall, Assistant Surgeon Sanderson, and 
thirteen of the Mormon battalion which, with nineteen of Fre- 
mont's topographical party, m.ade an aggregate of forty men. 

They came by way of the Southern Pass, and the hazards and 
difficulties of their journey contrast strangely indeed with the 

ij. M. Cutts: ''Conquest of California." 

167 



1 68 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

luxurious traveling of the present day. From the journal of a 
gallant and highly intelligent officer of General Kearny's Staff, 
and from other records, we learn that there had been colder 
weather in March, 1847, ^^^^ ^^^ been experienced in California 
for twenty years. Some hasty jottings in a little notebook of 
Lieutenant Radford's reads: *' Left Monterey May 31, 1847, came 
to Salinas River — 15 miles. 

*• June ist. Valley of San Juan — 28 miles. 

" June 2nd, Pachecas, same valley. 

'' June 3rd, Tulare Valley," (now better known as San Joaquin) 
20 miles. 

" June 4th, River San Joaquin. 

" June 5th, Crossed the River. 

'• June 6th, All the party over. 

" June 7th, Came to the River Tuolumne, 20 miles. 

" June 8th, Continued our march to Sutter's, on the Sacramento, 
which place we reached after swimming three more streams, all 
of v/hich rivers were very high from the melting of the snow in 
the California mountains; 

" June 13 th, reached Sutter's, and remained there until the 
1 6th, refitting, etc." 

While the party found themselves forced to swim four or five 
mountain torrents swollen by the melting snow to the breadth of 
rivers, the baggage and provisions were carried across in skin 
boats made upon the spot. Under such conditions their progress 
was naturally slow, as well as laborious and most hazardous. By 
an upset of one of these primitive boats Colonel Cooke lost his 
entire outfit, even to papers and specie. His saddle and blankets 
were the only things saved. 

Pending the time the expedition is refitting at Sutter's a word 
in regard to the place, called by its owner " New Helvetia," may 
not be amiss. 



CROSSING THE PLAINS 169 

" During the Gubernatorial term of Juan Bautista Alvarado," 
writes Mrs. Atherton, " there was a great influx of foreigners in 
Old California, and the most notable amongst these was John 
Augustus Sutter, born in the Grand Duchy of Baden (1803), ^ 
seeker of fortune in the Sandwich Islands (H. I.) until 1839, 
when he made up his mind to try his luck in California." Arriv- 
ing in the Bay of San Francisco in June, 1839, he was not per- 
mitted to land because of having no license, and therefore pro- 
ceeded down the coast to Monterey. There he informed Alvarado 
that he wished to settle in California and found a colony. 

Alvarado, recognizing in Sutter a man of uncommon ability 
and serious purpose, gave him the license to enter and to settle 
on a fork of the Sacramento and American rivers, naturalization 
papers in the following year, a large grant of land, and appointed 
him a representative of the government in the Sacramento River 
Frontier. 

This part of the country was infested with men of the lowest 
t}^e, and Sutter was expected to hold these desperadoes well in 
check. During the first year he built a fort and a house and 
outbuildings surrounded by a stockade, in that wild valley facing 
the Sierra, and there in that splendid domain, which he called 
New Helvetia, Sutter ruled like a feudal lord. He soon had a 
colony of three hundred Indians, whom he taught not only 
agriculture but the mechanical trades, and who became much 
attached to him. He established a primary school, built the 
natives comfortable huts, and altogether seems to have treated 
them with paternal kindness as long as they obeyed him blindly. 
In fact, he reigned like a prince at New Helvetia, where his domain 
covered thirty-three square miles, with, just beyond, another vast 
grant of ninety- three thousand acres. He had thousands of head 
of cattle, horses, sheep, and hundreds of Indians who were his 
veritable subjects. 



I70 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

For several years Sutter had watched the emigrant trains roll 
down the slopes of the Sierras; sind had dispensed hospitality 
to these weary adventurers. Many a relief party had he sent 
up into the high Sierras when emigrants had been overtaken by 
disaster.^ Upon the revolting traces of one such an emigrant 
party General Kearny's returning expedition was to fall. 

After three days spent in refitting at Sutter's, we find 
among the jottings in Lieutenant Radford's notebook the 
following: 

" Left the west side of the American (river) on the i6th of 
June, and after two short days' travel reached Johnson's in Bear 
River Valley, the last settlement. 

"June 1 8th, Took up our march east, up the Bear River, 
traveled 25 miles. June 19th, traveled 23 miles. 20th, 20 miles, 
and camped in a beautiful little valley, some snow " 

Other accounts tell us that the last rancho was passed on the 
1 8th of June. On the 21st they struck the Juba River which was 
overaowing, hence they passed higher up and crossed the Sierra 
Nevada, riding thirty-five miles over snow that was from five 
to twenty-five feet deep, under which water was running in many 
places in great torrents, and through which the mules were con- 
stantly breaking and burying themselves. 

Lieutenant Radford's notes of this date read: "On the 21st 
commenced our march again up the mountain Sierra Nevada, 
which was covered with snow in some places twenty feet deep, 
and from the frequency of the horses breaking through found 
our march very fatiguing," (this description would indicate tliat 
there were horses as well as mules amongst the mounts) " Reached 
Truckee Lake which is on the east side of the mountains " (bet- 
ter known today as Donner Lake — it is literally upon the crest of 
the range) " and the head of the Truckee River." 

^ Paraphrased from Mrs. Atherton's account. 



CROSSING THE PLAINS €71 

The winter had changed suddenly to spring, and the snow be- 
neath their feet and overhanging from the mountain cliffs threat- 
ened to engulf or overwhelm them alternately or simultaneously. 
Struggling forward they passed the remains, or, more strictly 
speaking, the clothes of one Shattan, an emigrant, who, becom- 
ing stone blind, had been abandoned by his companions and had 
here starved to death. All the members of the party experienced 
great pain from the reflection of the snow and were obliged to 
protect their eyes with their handkerchiefs. 

The following entry is terse and gruesome: "June 22nd, 
Passed along the north side of the lake, coming to the cabins 
where the emigrants attempted to winter. After gathering to- 
gether all the bones we could find and burying them we pro- 
ceeded down the Truckee River." 

Five miles beyond the beautiful Truckee Lake, surrounded by 
snow-capped mountains, they came on the 22 nd to " Cannibal 
Camp," so called from the deplorable state to which a party of 
emigrants had been reduced in the winter of 1846. These emi- 
grants who had perished so miserably composed what was known 
as the " Donner party," from their having chosen one George 
Donner as their leader. 

" This was a party of eighty-five people," writes Gertrude 
Atherton, — " men, women, and children — that had started early 
enough to cross the Sierras before the snow fell, but lost time 
on a false trail and began the eastern ascent on the last day 
of October, with exhausted provisions. They encountered one 
blizzard after another. The snow buried their wagons and cattle ; 
they built cabins of boughs covered with hides, fearing, in spite 
of those who pushed on ahead in search of relief, that they must 
spend the winter in these terrible fastnesses. Relief parties from 
Sutter's Fort were little more fortunate. They fell coming in, 
or going out with the few that were able to brave the storms and 



172 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

traveL The winter wore on, the blizzards increased in fury and 
duration. Men, women, and children died exhausted or starved. 
Donner, like a good captain, had refused to leave his foundering 
ship until those under his command had been saved. When the 
second relief party left Donner Lake they took all that were 
camped at this point except Donner, who was now too weak to 
travel, Mrs. Donner, who refused to leave her husband, and a 
man named Keysburg, who was ordered to remain and look after 
them. When the snows had melted somewhat a third relief 
party reached the lake to find Donner laid out in a winding 
sheet, Keysburg looking like a gorilla and acting like a maniac, 
and no Mrs. Donner. They found her later in the camp kettle 
and a bucket, salted down. When Keysburg, assisted by a rope 
round his neck, recovered his mind, he confessed to having mur- 
dered and eaten portions, not only of this brave woman, who 
had perhaps consciously dared worse than the Sierra storms to 
console her dying husband, but of others, before the second relief 
party had come. 

*' Such law as there was in the country seemed to break down 
before this monster. A year or two later the Americans would 
have lynched him; but Sutter, knowing the effect of the ter- 
rible stillnesses under falling snow, the monotonies of a long 
Sierra winter, and the hunger and privation that poison the 
brain with vitiated blood, let him go. He lived miserably in the 
mountains for the rest of his life, shunned as a pariah." 

This criminal had, of course, gone at the time of General 
Kearny's arrival, but his party found a skull that had been sawn 
in two in order to reach its contents, five perfect skeletons and 
other remains. In fact, from the time of entering the moun- 
tains General Kearny's party had been constantly passing the 
remains of some poor emigrant, whose bones they had humanely 
gathered up and buried, as they did those of the unfortunates 



CROSSING THE PLAINS 173 

of " Cannibal Camp." This merciful duty completed, the party 
once more took up their journey. 

Referring once more to Lieutenant Radford's notebook we read: 

" June 23rd, Crossed the river. 

" 24th, (made) 25 miles down the Truckee. 
" 25th, " 20 miles. 
" 26th, " 28 miles. 

" 27th, " 42 miles across a desert from Truckee 
River to the sink of Mary's River, (today the Humboldt) 
passed half way a boiling spring. 

"June 28th, (made) 25 miles." 

Here these brief notes end, and it is very possible that, know- 
ing other members of the party to be keeping regular records of 
the journey, Radford decided to discontinue his writing, for 
which at the best of times, he had no especial fondness, being 
always a man of action rather than words. 

Following the course of the Truckee River (named for an In- 
dian guide known as " Truckee " because of his resemblance to a 
Frenchman so called) down the eastern slope, the party passed 
trackless mountains of black rock through which ran the narrow 
pass. Now and again the road crossed the stream, " some of 
whose branches presented, beside a swimming-deep torrent, hun- 
dreds of yards of dangerous bog and mire." 

While encamped beside this river they were visited by the 
Digger Indians. The party were nearly out of provisions of all 
sorts when they met the first emigrants at the falls of Snake 
River, twenty-five miles beyond Fort Hall. Reaching Bear River 
they there obtained a recruit of horses and mules from the Snake 
Indians. 

The party came the new road, about fifty miles, without water, 
from Green River to Big Sandy, meeting 940 wagons of emigrants, 
all or nearly all bound to Oregon. The last ones were encoun- 



174 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

tered between the North Fork of Platte and Sweet Water, on 
July 28th. They were believed to be, and considered them- 
selves, too late to reach Oregon and spoke of passing the win- 
ter at Fort Bridger. They had left St. Joseph about the 6th of 
June. 

At Fort Laramie the party found many lodges of friendly 
Sioux. Leaving that fort on August 3rd they met the next day 
685 wagons of Mormons who were advancing slowly in parties of 
fifty; they had come all the way by the north bank of the Platte, 
and expected to winter on the Great Salt Lake, which they as- 
serted was to be " the final resting-place of their people." 

Incredibly large herds of buffalo were passed through for sev- 
eral days near the junction of the two Plattes, but no Indians were 
encountered after that time. 

Throughout the journey Lieutenant Radford, who was the 
possessor of the only shotgun in the party, was the hunter who 
replenished the larder when game was to be had. 

General Kearny's party was only sixty-six days journeying 
from the " settlement of California," to Fort Leavenworth, having 
made not one day's stop. They averaged, for the last fifty-seven 
days, thirty-one miles; the total distance covered was nearly 
2,200 miles. 

From Fort Leavenworth Lieutenant Radford returned to St. 
Louis, from which city he reported himself, on August 28th, 1847, 
as directed by Commodore Biddle, to the Navy Department. 

That he again visited Mexico, though this time on the western 
coast, is evidenced by the following official paper: 

" Navy Department, March 2nd, 1848. 
" Sir, 

" In conformity to your request, and with the view of your 
joiniag the Army in Mexico, you have permission to be absent 



CROSSING THE PLAINS 175 

from the United States. You will report to the Department once 
in every three months. 

" I am respectfully, 

" Your Obdt. Servt. 

" J. Y. Mason." 
" Lieut. Wm. Radford, 
" Washington, D. C." 

Upon reaching Fort Leavenworth General Kearny ordered 
Lieutenant Colonel Fremont to report to the Adjutant General 
at Washington. There he was court martialed for " conduct to 
the prejudice of good order and military discipline." The fol- 
lowing letter from General Kearny, addressed to " Lieut. Wm. 
Radford, U. S. Navy, New York," relates to this. 

" Washington, Sunday, November 28th, 1847. 
" Dear William, 

" I was much distressed to learn by letter from Mary (Mrs. 
Kearny), that you were taken sick at Baltimore, and continued 
so the next day on your road to New York. I hope you have 
perfectly recovered ere this. 

" I think there is some prospect of the Court-Martial closing 
the examination of all the witnesses by the end of this week. In 
that case the Court will most probably adjourn in 3 or 4 days 
after. I shall remain here until after the adjournment to see 
that Col. Benton shall not exercise any undue influence to set 
aside the verdict of the Court, if unfavorable to his son-in-law. 

'^ The difficulty between Com. S. (Stockton) and myself has 
been adjusted. I wrote to him, asking if he alluded to me in his 
letter of Nov. 3rd, to the Editors of the Republican. He replied, 
that he did not. We have since then twice met in the street, and 
we salute each other. He says the affair between us is amicably 
and honorably adjusted to both parties. Col. Benton will be very 



176 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

much disappointed in the testimony of Com. S., as I think, when 
he hears it. I have been led to believe that it will be much 
more against the defense than in its favor. 

"Write to me and let me know how you are, and what you 
are about. Love to Mary. I will write to her tomorrow. (Mrs. 
Kearny was evidently then in New York.) Please give my re- 
spects to Gen'l Gaines. 

" Yours, S. W. Kearny." 

" Several of your Navy friends inquire about you, Capt. Ged- 
ney yesterday among them." 

That the Court did not adjourn as early as was anticipated by 
General Kearny, is shown by an order to Lieut. Wm. Radford, 
dated December 20th, 1847, to "report without delay to the 
President of the Court-Mar tial now in session at the U. S. 
Arsenal, Washington, for the trial of Lt. Col. Fremont of the 
Army for the purpose of giving your testimony. 

" J. Y. Mason." 
(Secretary of the Navy.) 

" At the trial," writes Mr. Valentine Mott Porter, " Fremont 
was given great latitude in the introduction of testimony and he 
used the opportunity to recite with great dramatic effect his 
glorious services to the country in the conquest of California. 
Senator Benton, his father-in-law, was one of his counsel and was 
characteristically oratorical in his behalf. Fremont, nevertheless, 
was found guilty . . . and sentenced to be dismissed from the 
Army. Seven of the thirteen members of the court, in recognition 
of his past services as an explorer, recommended clemency. In 
the judgment of the court nothing had been shown to affect the 
honor or character of General Kearny. President Polk approved 
in all but one detail the sentence of the court, but in view of 



CROSSING THE PLAINS 177 

the prisoner's former meritorious services and the recommenda- 
tion, remitted the penalty of dismissal. He ordered him to re- 
sume his sword and report for duty. Fremont declined to receive 
clemency, because he could not admit the justice of the decision, 
and, thoroughly embittered, he resigned from the Army." His 
subsequent career has already been given. 

" General Kearny, having no political aspirations, reported for 
duty, joined the Army in Mexico, served as military governor of 
Vera Cruz and later of the City of Mexico, in which city he fell 
ill and, returning to his home in St. Louis, died there on October 
31st, 1848, the year following his return from California. 



CHAPTER XIII 
MORRISTOWN 

An event of great importance in Naval History had taken 
place during Lieutenant Radford's term of service on the Pacific 
Station — the founding of the U. S. Naval Academy. 

The use of steam for men-of-war had then passed the experi- 
mental stage, and as it was evident that steam engineering could 
not be picked up, like seamanship, simply by going to sea, the 
historian, George Bancroft, in accepting the post of Secretary 
of the Navy in March, 1845, ^id so with the determination of 
founding a Naval Academy. There were many obstacles to be 
overcome, and he went about it with consummate tact. Con- 
gress did not wish to spend any more money on the Na\^^ and 
the older officers laughed at the idea of *' teaching sailors on 
shore." Bancroft managed so that the suggestion for a school 
appeared to come from the officers themselves. He first " asked 
an examining board, consisting of older officers, to make a report 
on the best location for the school, and by submitting the same 
question to another board, composed of the younger element, won 
their approval as well. The recommendation of the first board 
that Fort Severn, Annapolis, was a suitable place was formally 
seconded by the second board, and thus the entire navy was 
committed to the idea. 

" Bancroft then overcame the unwillingness of Congress to 
make an appropriation; first, by getting a transfer of Fort Severn 
from the War to the Navy Department; and secondly, by put- 
ting all but a selected few of the navy " schoolmasters " on the 

178 



MORRISTOWN 179 

waiting list, using the money appropriated to their salaries for 
the necessary expenses of the new academy. 

" By these means, he managed in a few months from the time 
he accepted his post, to have the Naval Academy in actual opera- 
tion. From the point of view of its effect on the personnel of 
the Navy, the founding of this school may be regarded as the 
most important event between the War of 181 2 and the Civil 
War." ^ 

Another event of a widely different character took place while 
Radford was attending the Fremont court-martial in Washing- 
ton. On January 24th, 1848, James W. Marshall found gold in 
California. Marshall was one of several men who were digging 
a race-way for a mill on the American branch of the Sacramento 
River, for Colonel Sutter. One afternoon, when the water had 
been turned off, Marshall was walking in the tail-race when he 
saw something glittering on the bed. Picking up some of the 
yellow bits he examined them doubtfully. There had been 
rumors of gold in the neighborhood, and with a suspicion of the 
truth he carried the little collection of gleaming peas to Sutter. 
" He too was doubtful," Mrs. Atherton writes " but he possessed 
an encyclopedia. The two men read the article on gold carefully, 
and then applied the sulphuric acid test; finally, with the further 
assistance of scales, they convinced themselves that ^larshall's 
trove was pure gold." 

On September 14th, 1847, the City of Mexico surrendered to 
General Scott, and the fall of the national capital was the end 
of the Mexican War. The Mexicans, however, kept up a desul- 
tory resistance until the following January, when a treaty of 
peace was signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo, on February 2nd, 1848, 
by the terms of which we acquired Texas (with the Rio Grande as 

1 " History of the United States Navy," by Clark, Stevens, Alden, 
Krafft. 



i8o OLD NAVAL DAYS 

its southern boundary), New Mexico, Arizona, and California. 
These provinces included Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado 
and Wyoming. For this enormous territory, sufficient for an 
empire, Mexico was paid $15,000,000, and American claims 
against her to the amount of $3,250,000 were assumed by our 
government. An army of occupation was placed in the country 
until all the terms should have been complied with. 

We left Lieutenant Radford in the last chapter about setting 
forth anew for Mexico — possibly to join General Kearny at Vera 
Cruz — but, whatever may have been his object in going there, 
he made but a short stay, as on July 3rd, 1848, he reports his 
return to the Secretary of the Navy, and requests a three months' 
leave. The report is dated " New York City." During this 
leave there occurred an important event in his life, the telling 
of which will necessitate our referring to the double wedding 
which took place at Fincastle, Va., on December 23rd, 1806. 

Among Lieutenant Radford's many friends in New York during 
the summer of 1848 was his cousin, Wm. Preston Griffin, also a 
lieutenant in the United States Navy, whose mother was Mary, 
daughter of Colonel Hancock and wife of John Caswell Griffin. 
Lieutenant Griffin had married first Mary Lawrence, only child of 
Capt. James Lawrence of '' Don't give up the ship " memory. 

Capt. James Lawrence has been called, next to Decatur, the 
most romantic figure in the U. S. Navy. Like most of the naval 
heroes of the War of 181 2 he had entered the Navy as a mid- 
shipman in 1798, at the outbreak of the war with France, and had 
received his early training under Captain Tingey on the Ganges, 
He had won distinction in the war with Tripoli, notably as 
Decatur's lieutenant in the burning of the Philadelphia, and had 
reached the height of his fame by his brilliant capture of the 
Peacock, on February 24th, 18 •3. Lawrence, then in command of 
the sloop Hornet, discovered, when off the mouth of the Demerara 



MORRISTOWN i8i 

River, British Guiana, on his weather quarter, a brig which 
showed a willingness to engage. It was the Peacock, of about the 
same size as the Hornet, but with only two-thirds as heavy a 
broadside; for her 3 2 -pound carronades, because of her light 
scantling, had all been replaced by 24s. 

As the ships neared each other, Lawrence kept close to the 
wind, and secured the weather-gage. At 5.25 the ships, passing 
on opposite tacks, exchanged broadsides at half pistol-shot range. 
Then Lawrence, seeing that the Peacock was about to wear, bore 
up, receiving her starboard broadside, and ran close to her 
starboard quarter where, by a heavy and well-directed fire, he cut 
the brig to pieces. By this fire the British commander, Capt. 
William Peake, was killed, and soon the Peacock was in a desper- 
ate condition; in less than fifteen minutes after the action had 
begun she surrendered, hoisting an ensign union down, as a 
signal of distress. The ship was sinking fast, already having six 
feet of water in her hold. 

While it must be admitted that the advantage favored the 
Americans in number of crew and weight of gun metal, still this 
does not explain the astonishing difference in the effects of the 
fire of the two ships. As some writer has observed, " Had the 
guns of the Peacock been of the largest size they could not have 
changed the result, as the weight of shot that did not hit is of no 
great moment.'^ 

Mortally wounded on the Chesapeake in her losing fight with 
the British 38-gun frigate Shannon (Captain Broke), Lawrence 
lingered for four days in great agony, ever repeating in his de- 
lirium the words that have since become the motto of the Navy, 
" Don't give up the ship." 

After the death of his first wife Lieutenant Griffin married 
Christine Kean of New York, a sister of Mrs. Hamilton Fish, 
whose husband was Secretary of State during President Grant's 



1 82 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

administration. Christine Kean's mother, a widow, had taken 
for her second husband Mr. Baker, a prominent citizen of 
Morristown, N. J., and to the Bakers' home, on a visit to 
Lieutenant Griffin and his wife, came William Radford, some 
time during the summer of 1848, and while in Morristown he 
there met (to quote from an address delivered by Capt. J. W. 
Miller, on November 5th, 1906, at the first meeting of the 
" Admiral Radford Section of the Navy League of the United 
States,") " Mary, the beautiful daughter of Joseph Lovell," whom 
he married on November 21st of that year. 

The wedding, which took place in St. Peter's Church, was a 
quiet one owing to the recent death of General Kearny, and none 
but the family and intimate friends were present. Let it not 
be supposed, however, that this statement would indicate any 
dearth of guests, since Mrs. Joseph Lovell was by birth a Wet- 
more, and her mother (widow of Capt. George Wetmore of 
the British Army) was born an Ogden; at that time those two 
families, with their many ramifications, formed no inconsider- 
able part of the township's population. One incident of the 
wedding, of which as children it always amused us to hear, was, 
that not until the termination of the ceremony did the bride 
remark that the groom — who had with some difficulty been per- 
suaded to appear in uniform — had omitted to remove his overcoat. 

All accounts agree in pronouncing them to have been a hand- 
some couple, and, although Mary Lovell was but nineteen and 
William Radford thirty-nine at the time of their marriage, he 
was of so bright and fun-loving a disposition that beside his 
wife's somewhat stately reserve of manner he appeared often 
the younger of the two. Their wedding journey took them to 
Richmond, where they were greatly feted by Lieutenant Rad- 
ford's many relatives. That they did not go to Lynchburg to 
visit his uncle, William Radford II, is shown by the following 
letter: 




MARY ELIZABETH LOVELL 

From a Miniature Made in 1850 



MORRISTOWN 183 

" Lynchburg, December 19th, 1848. 
'' Dear William, 

*' I received yoiir letter some days ago from Richmond an- 
nouncing your marriage, at which information I was pleased. I 
was not entirely taken by surprise as I saw a gentleman from the 
North a few days before who stated that he had seen the an- 
nouncement in one of the northern papers. You tell me, the 
name of your better half is 'Mary'; a very pretty name, but 
you omitted to mention the other part of her name before mar- 
riage. This omission I hope you will supply in some future letter, 
as being now settled you will have an opportunity of writing 
occasionally to your old friends. I regret it was not in your 
power to extend your visit to Bedford. You could have amused 
yourself with your gun, and given us an opportunity of becoming 
acquainted with your good lady. . . . 

" We all received with unfeigned sorrow the account of the 
lamented death of Gen'l Kearny. I do not know any person in 
whom I felt a stronger interest from the short acquaintance I had 
with him. I felt a strong disposition to write to your sister on 
the occasion, but did not wish to open afresh the wound that 
the melancholy event had inflicted upon her, and I could only 
convey the deep sympathy we all felt for her in her bereave- 
ment. . . . 

" Your affectionte uncle and friend, 

" William Radford." 

If Lieutenant Radford had mentioned the name of the young 
girl to whom he was engaged in some what vague terms, the follow- 
ing letter to Mr. Lovell shows that his daughter had been scarcely 
more explicit. 

" Rome, February loth, 1849. 
"My dear Sir, 

" I received last November a letter from Mary which I have 



1 84 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

been desirous of answering, but could not, as I felt quite doubt- 
ful about her address, and I have been waiting in the expectation 
of receiving a letter from Hester,^ which Mary informed me was 
to be written in a jew days. I have not heard however from 
Hester, and begin to despair of receiving anything from that 
quarter & now enclose to you my answer to Mary, to which I 
wish you would give the proper direction. Mary writes that she 
was to be married in November & to leave immediately for St. 
Louis, and I did expect that Hester, knowing the interest which 
I should feel in the subject, would have replied ere this to 
my letter & have informed me of that event, if it had taken 
place. 

^' I am now again in Rome, & have been here more than a 
month, after passing the summer near Naples, & about two 
months at Florence, and find my interest in the place still 
continues, while the attractions of Naples and Florence are com- 
paratively soon exhausted. In fact after visiting the museum & 
the environs of the former place & the two galleries of the latter, 
there is little else to be seen and one readily comes back to the 
immensely superior attractions both in antiquities and art which 
are collected here. Florence has no antiquities beyond the middle 
ages, & Naples, except the highly interesting ones from Pompeii 
& Herculaneum, has not many more; while Rome is, as it always 
has been, the great storehouse of all the most exquisite works of 
art of all countries & all ages. 

'' It is diuicult to say, however, how long it will be a desirable 
place of residence or even a safe one, since the Pope, most un- 
advisably as I think & without any necessity, left his own 
States without appointing anyone to act in his place; the Country 
has been without any legal government, and the Chamber of 

■1 Hester "Wetmore, daughter of ^Irs. Lovell's brother, Charles Wet- 
more, and later wife of Henry Van Arsdale, M.D., of Newark, N. J. 



MORRISTOWN 185 

Deputies, from the necessity of the case, were obliged to appoint 
a Council & to give them all the powers of the Executive. 
The Chamber was then dissolved by the Council, and a 
National Convention summoned. As it was required that each 
member of the Convention should have at least five hundred 
votes, it was anticipated by some friends of the old system that 
the Convention would never meet for want of a choice of a suffi- 
cient number. In this however they have been entirely mistaken, 
the votes given in every where being extraordinarily large, in 
fact much larger in proportion to the population than we can give 
in our Country in the most excited party times. — The Conven- 
tion accordingly met on Monday last and at once proceeded to 
adopt by acclamation a vote depriving the Pope of all temporal 
power and establishing a Republican form of Government and the 
decree was yesterday promulgated with great form & Ceremony 
at the Capitol, and was received with great enthusiasm by a vast 
crowd of people. And yet, from the conversation which I hear, 
I do not believe that the people if left to themselves would have 
any preference for such a government or, in fact, know what it 
means, and the more judicious regard it as impracticable. . . . 
In the meantime there is undoubtedly a party who expect that 
everything will be arranged by the armed intervention of the 
powers, to which however it is said that the Pope utterly objects. 
He would in fact be willing to give up all temporal power, if he 
could consistently with liis oath, and it would probably not be 
any injury to the Catholic Church if he should do so. What 
therefore will be the result it is impossible to say. — If the Aus- 
trians or Spaniards or any other power should invade the terri- 
tory there will be sufficient confusion & trouble here to make it 
not a very desirable place of residence — if they do not I do not see 
but that the Pope may remain at Gaeta for the rest of his life. 
" Pray remember me kindly to Mrs. Lovell and Mary and 



1 86 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Hester and Charles. Also Mr. Colles's family, and do write 
about Mary's marriage; she calls him merely ' Mr. Radford of the 
Navy '; I wish to know more than that. 

" Faithfully yours, 

" Thos. Wetmore." 

(Thomas Wetmore, born August 31st, 1794, son of Judge Wil- 
liam Wetmore of Boston, older brother of Capt. George Wetmore, 
and first cousin of Mrs. Lovell. He died unmarried, March 30th, 
i860.) 

In the year 1832, my grandfather, Mr. Joseph Lovell, in 
conjunction with his brother-in-law, Mr. James Colles, purchased 
the old Doughty place on the Basking Ridge road, in Morristown, 
N. J., and in the division of the estate Mr. Lovell took the house, 
of which Mrs. J. K. Colles, in a book entitled " Historic Morris- 
town," writes: " Gen'l John Doughty 's interesting old house, with 
its curious interior and many a secret closet, stands as of old on 
Mt. Kemble Avenue (formerly the Basking Ridge road), at the 
head of Colles Ave." Then, quoting from Mr. W. L. King, Mrs. 
Colles, in speaking of General Doughty, says: " He was the most 
distinguished resident of Morristown — at whose house Washing- 
ton was a frequent visitor, and no doubt often dined." 

In this house Lieutenant and Mrs. Radford spent their first 
years of married life, he being stationed at the Naval Rendezvous 
in New York, whither he went daily. 

Capt. J. W. Miller in the address already alluded to, says: 

" It may seem a far cry from the hills of Morris to the rest- 
less sea ; and yet an impress of the ocean — with all its accompani- 
ment of duty well performed, of self-sacrifice to the country — 
has been left upon the citizenship of this inland Jersey town; 
an impress much needed in these days of neglect of the higher 
virtues which should permeate patriotic lives." 



MORRISTOWN i«7 

(Let us hope that the late war has given the negation to these 
words.) 

Speaking of the old MacCulloch homestead,^ Captain Miller 
said: " If a circle of less than one mile were described around 
the place where we are now sitting, it would embrace the homes, 
or the former residences, of over forty naval officers who have 
lived among us." 

After mentioning in eulogistic terms the one in whose honor 
this section of the Navy League had just been formed, Captain 
Miller went on: 

"In 1848 there was a young Lieutenant living in Morristown 
who then, as always, had a downright, straightforward way of 
expressing his views, no matter whom they hit. His frank letters 
regarding the efficiency, or lack thereof, of certain officers in 
the Navy, is refreshing. The service would * go to the devil ' 
unless certain old fogy captains were retired. There were long 
cruises and hardships aBead of him while he was preparing him- 
self to share with Farragut as commander of the Iroquois in the 
glory which came to the Na\y in the fight below New Orleans. 
He received his Commodore's star in 1866. Morristown should 
never forget that it was the home of John De Camp, and that 
he married here into one of its oldest families. 

" The widow of Commodore Alexander Slidell MacKenzie 
moved to Morristown in 1849. Her husband was in many re- 
spects the miost well-known officer of his time. In the days when 
mutiny and piracy were common he risked a well-earned reputa- 
tion for what he considered the good of the service, and was 
vindicated by his peers, and by the country, for one of the most 
drastic acts ever essential to maintain discipline on a small 
vessel." 

1 Formerly the home of his grandparents, but which was then his 
own home. 



1 88 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

The matter to which Captain Miller here refers was the 
mutiny on the Somers, which occurred in the autumn of 1842. 
This lo-gun brig had been ordered to the African Coast under 
command of Commander Alexander Slidell MacKenzie, with 
despatches for Commodore Perry's squadron. On her return 
trip to New York on November 26th, the purser's steward sent 
word to the Captain that Acting-Midshipman Philip Spencer had 
tried to induce him to join a conspiracy to seize the ship, murder 
all the officers, together with such of the crew as would not be 
wanted, and turn pirate. 

At first Commander MacKenzie laughed at the story as a boy's 
joke, but (since the bearing of the crew had been insubordinate 
from the time they left Madeira), the other officers were inclined 
to regard the matter as serious. Accordingly, Spencer was put 
in irons and his effects were searched, with the result that a paper 
with Greek characters was discovered. It happened that there 
was one person on board besides Spencer who understood the 
Greek alphabet — Midshipman Rodgers. He interpreted the 
words as a list of the crew, marked " certain," or " doubtful," 
with a few observations as to the policy to be pursued with the 
rest of the crew. 

From the time of Spencer's arrest the conduct of the crew 
became more and more sullen and insubordinate. . . . The men 
gathered in whispering groups, and Spencer was observed making 
signals to them from the quarter-deck where he sat in irons. 

From the evidence of the purser's steward, a boatswain's mate 
named Cromwell and a seaman named Small also were arrested 
as ringleaders and put in irons. As it was evident from the tem- 
per of the crew that the situation was extremely grave, Com- 
mander MacKenzie convened all his officers in a court of inquiry, 
while he, with a midshipman, took charge of the vessel. After 
deliberating about a day and a half, the officers returned a 



MOkiv.oioWN 189 

report that the prisoners were guilty of a " determined intention 
to commit a mutiny on board this vessel of a most atrocious 
nature," and in view of the " uncertainty as to what extent they 
are leagued with others still at large, the impossibility of guarding 
against the contingencies which a day or an hour may bring forth, 
we are convinced that it would be impossible to carry them to 
the United States, and that the safety of the public property, the 
lives of ourselves, and of those committed to our charge, require 
that . . . they should be put to death." ^ 

Commander MacKenzie concurred in this opinion, and on 
December ist he caused the three conspirators to be hanged from 
the yard-arm. The execution had a salutary effect on the crew, 
who immediately returned to their duties with an alacrity that 
was in striking contrast to their previous conduct. 

On the arrival of the Somers at New York, the report of this 
execution aroused the greatest excitement, particularly as Spencer 
was the son of the Secretary of War. But a commander's first 
duty is to save his ship and the lives of the officers and men 
under him, and Commander MacKenzie was honorably acquitted, 
despite the efforts of Spencer's father to have him indicted in the 
civil courts for murder. In fact, Spencer's dying confession 
showed that a plot for a mutiny of the most diabolical type was 
actually afoot, so that the apprehensions of Commander Mac- 
Kenzie and his officers were not due to sudden panic. Philip 
Spencer had made a brief cruise in the John Adams, after which 
he had been forced to resign on account of his " disgraceful and 
scandalous conduct ", but had been reappointed to the Somers 
through his father's influence, and admitted just before the execu- 
tion that he had cherished the plan of mutiny and piracy ever 
since he entered the Navy. 

1 '' Proceedings of the Naval Court-martial in the Case of Alexander 
Slidell MacKenzie, p. 35. 



190 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Captain Miller continued: 

" Commander MacKenzie left three sons who received their 
early education in Morristown; Alexander Slidell, who attained 
the rank of Lieutenant-Commander and was killed on June 13th, 
1867, while on an expedition against the natives in the island of 
Formosa; Ronald, who graduated at the head of his class at West 
Point, and who became, through daring exploits, the youngest 
Major-General in the Civil War; and Morris R. S., Rear Admiral 
of the U. S. Navy, who has returned to live in the town of his 
early schooldays." 

Directly opposite MacCulloch Hall was the home of Lieut. 
Calbraith Raymond Perry Rodgers, whose work in locating the 
dangers to navigation along the treacherous coast near Nantucket 
now enable thousands of passengers to make the trip to Europe 
much more safely. 

" His scientific ability, his record at the reduction of Vera Cruz, 
and at the capture of Tobasco during the Mexican War, had 
already given him a reputation, which in 1853 brought him the 
much sought for position of Flag Lieutenant on board the old 
Constitution. To recount the service of ' Carp ' Rodgers, as he 
was familiarly known in the Navy, would be to give the story of 
all that was best and highest. Born of a family which has ever 
been famous in the annals of our naval history, he kept its honor 
bright, and transmitted a heritage worthily maintained by three 
sons now in the Army and Navy." 

(Rear Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
November 14th, 18 19. His father was Commodore George Wash- 
ington Rodgers, younger brother of Commodore John, and his 
mother was a sister of Commodore Perry. He became a mid- 
shipman in 1833; served on the Brandywine and Vincennes; dur- 
ing the Seminole war he commanded the schooner Phoenix. He 
was actively engaged during the Mexican War, especially in 



MORRISTOWN 191 

blockading the coast. 1856-57 served on Coast Survey. Was 
appointed in 1861 Commandant of Midshipmen at the Annapolis 
Naval Academy. Distinguished himself, when in command of 
frigate Wabash, at the battle of Port Royal, November 7th, 1861. 
Was Fleet Captain in attack on Charleston, April 7th, 1863, and 
subsequently in the South Atlantic blockading squadron. In 
1863-64 commanded steam sloop Iroquois. Was made full cap- 
tain July 25th, 1866. He commanded the flagship Franklin on the 
European Station ill 1869-70. June, 1874, he was commissioned 
as Rear Admiral, and made Superintendent of the Naval Acad- 
emy; and in 1878-80, he commanded the naval forces in Pacific. 
Retired November 14th, 1881. Died January 8th, 1892.) 

His eldest son, Rear Admiral Raymond Perry Rodgers received 
ten numbers of merit when executive officer on the Iowa in the 
battle of Santiago. His other sons are Col. Alexander Rodgers, 
U. S. A., whose son Lieut. Alexander Rodgers gave his life for his 
country in the recent war in France, and Rear Admiral Thomas 
Slidell Rodgers, U. S. N. 

" With the MacKenzies and Rodgers in Morristown it natu- 
rally followed from the intermarriage between the three families 
that the Perr3^s should have been there also. First and foremost 
among them was Matthew C. Perry, the Commodore and diplo- 
matist, who came there upon returning from his successful mission 
to Japan." 

Commodore Perry sailed from Norfolk, November 24th, 1852. 
On July 8th, 1853, with the steam frigates Susquehanna and Mis- 
sissippi, towing the sloops-of-war Saratoga and Plymouth, he 
moved slowly up the Bay of Yedo and dropped anchor off Uraga, 
a city twenty-seven miles from the capital, Yedo (Tokio). This 
was the first appearance of a steamer in Yedo Bay; and great 
was the astonishment of the natives to see the huge ships ap- 
proaching directly against the wind. 



192 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Perry, in coming to the exclusive nation, had decided fairly 
to outdo them in exclusiveness, and when the Vice-Governor of 
Uraga appeared in a small boat and an interpreter declared his 
rank, h? was kept waiting until he had explained why he, and not 
the Governor, had come. Furthermore when the gangway was 
lowered and the dignitary came on board, he was by no means per- 
mitted to see Commodore Perry. Perry, because of his rank as 
the great ambassador of the President, would meet no one less than 
a ^' counselor of the Empire " (cabinet minister). However, Lieu- 
tenant Contee, acting as Perry's representative, informed the Vice- 
Governor of the friendly mission on which the Americans had 
come, and of the letter written by the President to the Emperor, 
which Commodore Perry would deliver with appropriate formali- 
ties. The Vice- Governor's immediate answer was that '' Nagasaki 
was the only place, according to the laws of Japan, for negotiating 
foreign business, and that it would be necessary for the squadron 
to go there." To this " he was told that the Commodore had 
come purposely to Uraga because it was near to Yedo, and that 
he should not go to Nagasaki; that he expected the letter to be 
duly and properly received where he then was ; that his intentions 
were perfectly friendly, but that he would allow no indignity." ^ 

At seven o'clock the next morning two large boats came along- 
side the Susquehanna bringing the Governor of Uraga. Again the 
exclusive Commodore would not deign to treat with an official be- 
neath his rank, but delegated Captains Buchanan and Adams to 
confer with him. The first suggestion from the new conferee 
was "Nagasaki "; and again this met with an emphatic refusal. 

The Governor now requested an opportunity to send to Yedo 
for further instructions. This he said would require four days; 
he was informed the Commodore would wait 072ly three. 

1 Hawk's " Narrative of the Expedition to Japan," compiled from 
Perry's notes. 



MORRISTOWN 193 

As can be easily imagined, the communications taken to Yedo 
by the Governor of Uraga had the effect of an earthquake. For 
even if the Japanese were not to be shaken out of their prejudice 
against foreigners by Perry's friendly purpose, they were tre- 
mendously disturbed by his individual firmness and power. Re- 
turning on the day appointed by Perry, the Governor proceeded 
to arrange with Captains Buchanan and Adams the time, place, 
and even the minutest details for the formal delivery and accept- 
ance of the letter. 

Two days later (July 14th) shortly before eight o'clock, the 
Susquehanna and the Mississippi moved down the bay and in- 
shore, toward a large and highly decorated reception hall which 
the Japanese had quickly erected. At a signal from the Susque- 
hanna, three hundred officers, sailors, and marines filled fifteen 
launches and cutters, and with stately procession moved toward 
the shore. When they had gone halfway, a salute of thirteen 
guns from the Susquehanna began to boom and re-echo among 
the hills; this was to announce that the great Commodore, the 
august ambassador of the President, upon whom no Japanese eye 
had yet been privileged to gaze, was embarking in his barge. 

On the arrival of the Commodore, his suite of officers formed 
a double line along the landing-place, and as he passed up be- 
tween they fell into order behind him. The procession then took 
up its march toward the house of reception, the route to which 
was pointed out by the Governor of Uraga and his interpreter, 
who preceded the party. The marines led the way, and with the 
sailors following, the Commodore was duly escorted up the beach. 

As Perry and his suite entered the reception hall, m.agnificent 
in its hangings of violet colored silk and fine cotton, two princes 
who were seated on the left, rose, bowed, and then resumed their 
seats. They had been appointed by their government to receive 
the documents, and their dignity was appalling; during the entire 



194 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

interview they sat with statuesque formality uttering not a word 
nor making a gesture. The complete ceremonies occupied not 
more than half an hour. For some minutes after the Commodore 
had taken his seat there was absolute silence, broken finally by the 
Japanese interpreter asking the American interpreter if the letters 
were ready for delivery, and stating that the princes were ready to 
receive them. 

The Commodore, upon this being communicated to him, beck- 
oned to two boys who stood in the lower hall to advance, when 
they came forward bearing handsome boxes which contained the 
President's letter and other documents. Two stalwart negroes, 
gorgeously appareled, following immediately in rear of the boys, 
received the boxes from the hands of the bearers, opened them, 
took out the letters, and laid them upon the lid of a Japanese 
box (placed there for the purpose) all in perfect silence. 

The Commodore then directed his interpreter to inform the 
Japanese that he should leave in two or three days, but would 
return the following spring for an answer. When they inquired 
if he should return with all four vessels, he gave the prompt as- 
surance, " All of them and probably more, as these are only a 
portion of the squadron." 

A few days later Perry sailed for China, remaining in Hong 
Kong until January 14th, when he once more set sail for Japan, 
coming to anchor within twenty miles of Yedo on February 13th, 
1854. 

On the 8th of March, the day set for beginning the negotiations, 
the Commodore, with five hundred men and three bands of music, 
went ashore to the " Treaty House," erected for tliis especial 
occasion. 

Three weeks of conference followed. In the middle of the 
negotiations Perry delivered to the Japanese the presents that the 
storeship had lately brought from America. Amongst these were 



MORRISTOWN 195 

agricultural implements, clocks, two telegraph instruments, three 
lifeboats, and a Lilliputian railway. The last had a locomotive, 
tender, car, and rails, but was so small that it could scarcely 
carry a child of six. The Japanese, however, were not to be 
cheated out of a ride, and so betook themselves to the roof of the 
train, and it was a spectacle not a little ludicrous to behold a 
dignified official wEirling around the circular road at the rate of 
twenty miles an hour, with his loose robes flying in the wind, 
clinging desperately to the edge of the roof, and grinning with 
intense interest. In return the Japanese brought generous pres- 
ents of lacquered work, pongee, umbrellas, dolls, and various other 
things, together with the substantial remembrances of two hun- 
dred sacks of rice and three hundred chickens. 

On March 31st, 1854, Commodore Perry and four Japanese com- 
missioners signed a treaty written in the English, Dutch, and 
Chinese languages. This guaranteed succor and protection to 
shipwrecked Americans ; permission for a ship in distress, or over- 
taken by storm, to enter any Japanese port; the opening of the 
ports Simoda and Hakodadi, where Americans could secure water, 
wood, coal, and provisions, and enjoy, with some restrictions, 
trade relations. 

Larger privileges were later granted by the treaties of 1857 and 
1858. England, quick to follow the advantage gained by the 
United States, six months after Perry (September, 1854), also 
secured commercial rights, and Russia and Holland were only a 
few months later. Thus if Perry's expedition had been planned 
solely for our own commercial profit, there might have been 
disappointment. But the prestige gained by the American com- 
modore, who had shown himself such an able diplomat, and the 
honor that came to our nation in having drawn Japan from her 
isolation, proved an ample recompense.^ 

1 " A Short History of the United States Navy," by Clark, Stevens, 
Alden, Krafft. 



196 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Returning to Captain Miller's enumeration of the quota fur- 
nished by Morristown to the Navy of the United States we read: 

" In 1853, Commodore S. H. Stringham was commander-in- 
chief of the European Station, with the old Cumberland as his 
flagship. Henry A. Wise was then his Flag-Lieutenant. Wise's 
father had been a naval officer, and his son after him was another. 
While Wise was on the European Station, a daughter was born 
to him at Spezia, who afterwards became Mrs. J. W. Miller. 
** While I am on this personal subject," says Captain ]\Iiller, " I 
may be permitted to mention, that I am proud of the fact that my 
son served as an ordinary seaman on board the Yankee in 1898, 
in the Spanish War, and married into a family which once lived 
in Morristown, and gave three of its members to the Navy — 
Capt. John K. Duer, his son, Alexander Duer, and a cousin, 
Rufus K. Duer, late a Lieutenant-Commander. 

" Stringham began his service as a midshipman in the War of 
1812. During the Civil War he commanded the North Atlantic 
Blockading Squadron, capturing Forts Hatteras and Clark. He 
ended his duty as Port Admiral of New York. His association 
with Morristown was through visits to his son-in-law, Capt. J. B. 
Creighton. The lives of these two men connect the old navy 
with the new; they were full of activities in all parts of the 
world. 

" Commander Joseph Warren Revere was long a resident of 
Morristown. He inherited a spirit of patriotism, a taste for en- 
graving, architecture and literature, and a love of horsemanship 
from his ancestor, Paul Revere; while his Christian name added 
an ambition to emulate, in the army, the reputation of the Revo- 
lutionary general who was killed at Bunker Hill. His service in- 
cluded many years in the navy and subsequently in the army 
in command of a brigade during the Civil War. His * Keel 
and Saddle ' tells of his forty years afloat and ashore. . . . My 



MORRISTOWN 197 

recollection of all that Captain Revere was to us schoolboys in 
1 86 1 will not down. I well remember all his yarns, and his 
sympathetic interest as we youngsters confided to him, at his 
place on the Mendham Road, our desire to become soldiers or 
sailors. It was there that he drilled us, laughing at our awkward 
manual of arms, and when he left for the war, there followed in 
two years into the navy: 

" George M. Totten, the son of a naval officer whose widow 
lived in Morristown; George Church, who, after graduating at 
the Naval Academy and served for several years, then resigned 
to become Commander of the first Naval Militia Battalion in 
Brooklyn; Morris R. S. MacKenzie and Raymond Rodgers, whose 
names have been already mentioned; J. Cummings Vail, the son 
of the distinguished scientist; Theodore T. Wood, who was the 
most popular man in the class of 1868 at the Naval Academy, 
and whose genial manners made him the joy of every wardroom 
mess until his career was cut short by death at Norfolk on 
February 4th, 1886; and myself," said Captain Miller. 

^' Many, if not all of you," he went on, " remember Captain 
William M. Gamble, who lived among us long after he was 
placed on the retired list on account of ill-health incident to 
arduous service. He married Miss Eliza Canfield, who still sur- 
vives him. She and his three daughters are constant visitors to 
Morristown." 

(Captain Gamble's second daughter married Gen. Wm. M. 
Black, late Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army. Her mother, 
Mrs. Gamble, died in 19 18.) 

" Wm. M. Gamble was born on March 25th, 1825, and was the 
son of John Marshall Gamble, v/ho served with distinction under 
the elder Porter during the War of 181 2. He graduated at the 
Naval Academy in the class of 1842, and came into prominence 
at the opening of the Civil War as executive officer of the New 



198 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Ironsides. Later while serving in the Gulf Squadron, his ship, 
the monitor Osage, was blown up by torpedoes in Blakeley River. 
Nothing daunted he applied for another vessel, was ordered to 
the Powhatan and gave chase to the Alabama. It is needless to 
say that his old, antiquated vessel could not catch the famous 
blockade runner, even though Gamble used up all his pork and 
barrels, forcing his boilers in a vain attempt to capture Semmes. 

" His house on Maple Avenue was purchased from the prize 
money he received during the war, and there he died on October 
19th, 1896, leaving to us many reminiscences of his bold, brave, 
bluff, and jovial nature. 

" Commodore Robert B. Hitchcock, who entered the Navy in 
1825, passed many summers in Morristown with Mr. G. E. 
Harney, until his death in 1886. Hitchcock was noted as a 
mathematician of prominence, and an expert in ordnance, and 
served in the Navy Department during a part of the Civil War, 
although he had command of the Susquehanna in the Gulf 
Squadron prior to that time. He was retired in 1864. 

" Rear Admiral James Mcintosh was the father of Mrs. Cox, 
long a resident of Morristown; while that famous blockade run- 
ner of the Confederacy, Captain Bullock, had a home on South 
Street before the war. 

"It is not, perhaps, necessary in this assemblage to recall 
the names of Frank Turnbull; all who knew him loved and re- 
spected him. Or of Nicholas Roosevelt, who married Miss Dean." 
(Miss Dean and my sister were very great friends in their 
early days.) " The respect of his fellow-citizens was only 
equaled by the loVe which all his old friends and classmates had 
for him while in the Navy." 

In speaking of his elder brother Capt. J. W. Miller says: 

" Nor is it fitting for me here on this spot to go too deeply 
into the record of one who was born in the room above us. Our 



MORRISTOWN 199 

relationship, as brothers, was too close; my admiration for him 
as an officer too great. The full story of his life should be left 
to comrades — like his intimate friend Schley, or his classmate 
George Dewey. 

"Henry William Miller entered the Naval Academy in 1852. 
After graduating he served in China on board the famous old 
frigate Minnesota. In November, 1859, he was ordered to the 
Mohican, fitting out for the South African Squadron. The 
Mohican captured the last slave ship, Erie, ever taken, with nine 
hundred negroes on board. The Erie was sent to New York, and 
the captain hanged in the courtyard of the Tombs for piracy. 
The Mohican on her return to this country joined the South 
Atlantic Squadron. Miller commanded a division in the battle of 
Port Royal, participated in the capture of Brunswick, Ga., and 
Fernandina, Fla., served with Goldsborough in the Gulf, and 
with Nichols (the father of one of our members), on the James 
River. He resigned in 1866. One has written of him: ' The su- 
perior grain and fine qualities of the man made themselves felt 
in civil life and he became a prominent and leading citizen of 
Morristown, where, at the old homestead in which he was born and 
lived, he was wont to gather about him many of the " oldsters " 
who ever delighted in his true hospitality. The uplifting influ- 
ence of his Christian character can scarcely be overestimated; 
it permeated the ships in which he served, and the locality where 
he lived.' 

^' Among other officers whose names are associated with Mor- 
ristown are: Lieutenant-Commander Francis A. Miller, Lloyd 
Phoenix, Medical Director James Rufus Tryon, who was formerly 
Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery; Paymasters Burtis, 
Caswell and Noyes, Chief Engineer Elijah Laws, Lieut. Wm. 
Watts, Rear Admiral J. V. B. Bleeker, Rear Admiral P. H. 
Cooper, Captain Arthur P. Nazro, Lieutenant Commander W. P. 



200 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

White, Lieutenant-Commander A. B. Hoff, Lieutenant Ridgeley 
Hunt, and Loyal Farragut, who served in the Navy with his 
father before going to West Point." 

In this congenial atmosphere, surrounded by many friends of 
his own profession, Lieutenant Radford passed such time as he 
was able to devote to his home and family. That he kept in 
touch with his relatives in the West is shown by his corre- 
spondence. His brother John, whose wife had died after five 
years of wedded life, had betaken himself to California, and the 
following letter concerning him gives a graphic description of 
the life there at that period. The writer is Lieutenant Radford's 
cousin, Major William Clark Kennerly, son of his uncle James. 

" Sacramento City (Cala.) Friday, 
" 30th Augt. 1850. 
'' Dear friend, 

" I am writing at the request of John, whose situation prevents 
him from undertaking that pleasant task in propria persona, which 
being rendered into plain English, means, with his own fingers. 
I must explain more fully. — 

" During the last three weeks this city and vicinity has been 
the scene of great excitement and great doings; as you will see 
by the papers. — The origin and commencement of the difficulty 
must have gone to the States by the last Steamer. — The squatters 
had taken possession of certain lots in this city and were endeavor- 
ing to make themselves comfortable and hoped to become in time 
independent. To be sure, these lots were claimed by certain 
other persons who had in fact been in treaty with old Capt. 
Sutter and had paid money and received deeds for the same some 
time previous to the squatting. . . . But they were speculators, 
land pirates, capitalists — and such names outweighed, crushed 
down and utterly abolished all deeds from Sutter in the minds of 



MORRISTOWN 20i 

free, independent, destiny loving, law despising democratic squat- 
terdom. . . . They had been in the mines, had labored, and had 
not been able to compass a fortune in a year. An opportunity 
seemed to offer itself to make fortunes without visiting the hated 
mines and without labor. ... It required only an ordinary, 
modest, American effort, to arrange things comfortably, and these 
were the people to make it — and they squatted! But the specula- 
tors, land pirates, or whatever else they were called, rose when 
others squatted, and tried the law. And, it appearing to the 
Judicial authorities that the right to the property was in these 
people with the hard names, directed that these noble but mis- 
guided people, these creatures of impulse and squatterism, should 
be dispossessed — which was done, and some of them, who showed 
their contempt for the law by kicking up and conducting them- 
selves in too lively a manner, were committed to the prison ship. 
Their friends attempted to rescue them, and paraded the streets 
with guns, etc. The Mayor with his officials met them, and 
ordered them to lay down their arms, which the leader of the 
squatters not only declined doing, but he, with great coolness, 
directed his men to fire on the Mayor and posse, and the Sheriff 
and Assessor were killed; the Mayor wounded, it is thought 
mortally, but the squatters were dispersed and several killed. 
John was of course conspicuous in the affair — bravest of the brave, 
and liveliest of the lively, spurred on both by his duty as an officer 
(Deputy Sheriff) and his love of fun as a man. — He escaped 
without a wound, but, two or three days after, he v/ith others 
v/ent out of town a few miles to arrest some leading squatters. A 
fight ensued, and John was shot through the arm, above the 
wrist, breaking the large bone. His arm is now doing very well, 
and he thinks that in the course of about six weeks he can use it 
a little. I saw the surgeon, (a very skillful one) dressing it this 
morning, and although it appeared to be quite a severe wound, 



202 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

yet it seemed to be improving fast. John's general health is 
excellent and he appears as usual in fine spirits. 

"Clark Kennerly." 

A letter from his uncle William Radford II, dated May 23rd, 
1 85 1, reads in part: " We have been flattering ourselves that you 
would pay us a visit, and regretted that you did not extend 
your visit when you and your wife came to Richmond. The 
winter having been mild and open there is a fine prospect for 
birds this year. Remember us kindly to your wife . . . and 
tell her it will always give us great pleasure to see her in Bedford. 
Carlton and his wife are with us at present. He expects to be 
ordered to California." 

(Carlton Radford was the sixth child of William Radford II, 
a graduate of West Point, and a lieutenant in the U. S. Army. 
In the Civil War he went with the South.) 

On August 25th, 1849, a daughter, Mary Lovell (Mrs. Randolph 
Coyle, of Washington), was born to the Radford household; 
and on March 28th, 1851, a son, who was named for his father. 

On January 21st, 1851, Lieut. William Radford was detached 
from the Rendezvous at New York, and the following June re- 
ceived orders to report for the command of the U. S. Store Ship 
Lexington^ then fitting out for a cruise to the Pacific. This cruise 
proved to be a trying one in many ways for the Lexington's 
commander, and he found himself confronted at its termination 
with the first sorrow that had fallen athwart his happy married 
days. 



CHAPTER XIV 
BETWEEN CRUISES 

An extract from the " Regulations for the Uniform and Dress 
of the Navy of the United States," was forwarded to Lieutenant 
Radford along with his sailing orders, on July 26th, 1851, which 
regulations he was directed by the Department to have " strictly 
carried out." They were as follows: 

" The hair of all persons belonging to the Navy, when in actual 
service, is to be kept short. No part of the beard is to be worn 
long excepting whiskers, which shall not descend more than one 
inch below the tip of the ear, and thence in a line towards the 
corners of the mouth." 

Sailing immediately from New York upon receipt of his final 
orders, the Lexington touched first at Rio de Janeiro, and there 
is a letter written by Lieutenant Radford to his father-in-law, 
from that city, dated October 5th, 1851, which reads in part: 

" Capt. Inman of the United States Navy leaves this place 
tomorrow for New York, and he has been kind enough to offer to 
leave this, together with a small package for Mary at your office, 
and I hope you may be there when he calls, as he remains but a 
few hours in the city. 

" I perused with much interest and feeling your very kind 
letter given to me on the eve of my departure from the United 
States, and nothing could be more gratifying to me than to have 
received a letter expressing so kindly a feeling for my eternal 
happiness from any one, but when it comes from one whom 

203 



204 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

I must deem sincere in all he expresses, I can but return my warm- 
est thanks. I would read the books you gave me, if it were but to 
comply with your wishes so kindly urged upon me. 

" We have had a pleasant voyage to tliis place though rather a 
long one. ... I have written everything I could think of to 
Mary, consequently my letter to you is very short. I suppose 
you know this is a place of immense commerce. I heard some 
merchants say that coffee was up now, as many vessels were 
loading for the U. S. but they thought it would come down as 
soon as the press of business was over. This is all the commercial 
news I can give you." 

I cannot do otherwise just here than say a brief word in re- 
gard to my grandfather Lovell, v/ho was one of the kindliest 
and saintliest of men. He was Superintendent of the first Episco- 
pal Sunday-school ever established in New Orleans (Christ 
Church), where he was engaged for several years in business with 
his brother-in-law, Mr. James CoUes; and his voluminous cor- 
respondence with both clergy and laity prove his charities to have 
covered a wide field. All of which did not prevent his being a 
veteran of the War of 1812, during v/hich he served as a 
private " in Captain Murray's Company, Colonel Murray's 
Regiment . . . raised for the purpose of guarding the City and 
Port of New York, . . . and was engaged in said City, on Long 
Island and Staten Island during the whole time of said service, 
etc., etc." ^ 

From Rio, the Lexington proceeded to Valparaiso, where they 
spent Christmas, 1851 ; reaching San Francisco at the beginning of 
March, 1852. 

From that port Lieutenant Radford writes to the Secretary of 
the Navy, dated March nth, . . . ^'Inquiries have been made 

^ Extract from Declaration for Pension under Act of February 14th, 
1871. 



BETWEEN CRUISES 205 

as directed by the Hon'ble Secretary of the Navy for Passed 
Mid'n Wm. Henry Smith. He sailed from this port in the latter 
part of the year 1850 for Manilla, touching at the Sandwich 
Islands, since which time neither he, or the vessel has been heard 
from. A vessel was wrecked off the Island of Formosa soon after 
he left the Sandwich Islands, and his father supposes it might 
have been his vessel ; or if not, that the vessel has been capsized 
and all hands perished." Here we have a glimpse of an old-time 
tragedy of the sea. 

Another letter, dated March 13th, to Mr. Lovell, says: 

" I received your very long and very kind letter of the 22 nd of 
Dec./5i, for the which I owe you many thanks — both for the 
letter and for the kindness you have shown to yours and mine. 
For are they not yours as well as mine, those dear little children? 
They are a great trouble as well as a great blessing. 'Tis the 
only consolation I have in my absence to know that my wife and 
children have kind parents who are willing to render them all 
the kindness in their power, which is an article not to be pur- 
chased, therefore I feel doubly thankful for it. Poor little IVIinn, 
how much anxiety she must have given you." (Mary Lovell Rad- 
ford, and baby William.) 

Then, after some correspondence about business matters the let- 
ter continues: "I am sorry to hear you are complaining of pain 
in your eyes: I would repeat what I have told you before about 
reading with bad lights if it did not sound too much like ' I told 
you so.' 

" Walking in the streets of San Francisco the other day I 
met your brother Mr. Lovell" (Benj. D. Lovell), "and after 
talking with him some time made an appointment to meet 
him. . . . He spoke of going to Oregon and I tried to dissuade 
him from it. . . . 

" There has been very much rain since I arrived here, and every 



2o6 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

one says the miners will make large returns which they would not 
have done had not these rains fallen. It has thrown me back, so 
that I shall not get off before the 5th of April, but ' it is an ill 
wind that blows no one any good,' and I suppose it is so of the 
rain. 

"This is the most remarkably peopled country in the world; 
'rapscallions' of every nation; every person running after the 
' dust ' ; everything purchased for money down ; no trust, no con- 
fidence, stores paid for always monthly in advance — even down to 
the bed you sleep on at the hotel. I stumble upon men from 
every city in the world I have visited, all with anxious counte- 
nances — looking out for the main chance, as one unfortunate 
month sometimes causes the heaviest houses to fail, for they all 
have weak backs! Dining one day when in town at an eating- 
house, I saw a servant waiting on me who seemed out of place 
so I entered into conversation with him, and he soon let me into 
his history. He had been in a large business firm but a few days 
before — this had failed, and he being without money had 
* shipped ' in an eating-house for fifty dollars per month. 

" John, my brother, told me that at one time the large hotel at 
Sacramento had as servants four lawj^ers and three doctors, and 
that he had seen a man who was on the Bench as Judge in Mis- 
souri driving an ox team taking truck to and from the wharf. A 
strange state of things where intellect counts for nothing, but it 
is now beginning to tell, and in a few years things will take their 
proper level. You would not, were you here, be astonished at the 
proceedings of the Vigilance Committee, as violent diseases re- 
quire violent remedies; so when robberies, murder and every 
other crime became outrageous, powerful examples had to be made 
that good might result from it. The terror among the evil-doers 
was very great whilst the said Committee used the rope! They 
are still in existence, and when their services are again necessary 



BETWEEN CRUISES 207 

will show themselves. They are composed of the most correct 
people of the Country, and I hope they will not be compelled to 
act again, but when the same crime stalks about the Country 
they will show themselves as heretofore. 

" Fortunes cannot be made here now as have been made for the 
last two years, but any steady, saving person with capital might 
accumulate a fortune in a few years. Think of paying seven or 
eight hundred dollars per month for a store, and that only one 
floor, and some are even much more extravagant than that. 

" Gambling houses are at almost every corner. Men and 
women throwing the dice — crying out all the time: ^ Make your 
game, Gentlemen, — the more you put down the more you take ' ; 
and like phrases. One cannot but be astonished that vice is so 
common and public, but time will correct even this also in a 
measure, as I am told there is less of it now than there was a 
a few months back. 

" Now I have given you some of the horrors, I will tell you 
that there are several churches here which are generally well 
attended, though I am told that even the gentlemen of the robe 
have a strong * itching for the dust,' but I am not astonished in 
a community where every person is eager in pursuit of the same 
object, that every one should fall into the same current and be 
driven along without the power or disposition to struggle against 
the tide. 

" Wm. Radford." 

Again referring to Mrs. Atherton's book " California," we read: 
"At the end of 1849 ^ hundred thousand immigrants had 
poured into the territory. A similar number arrived in 1850, 
advancing the population of San Francisco alone from five thou- 
sand to nearly thirty thousand. Naturally, it was easy for 
criminals to slip in singly or in hordes, for all claimed to be 



2o8 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

bound for the mines, which were turning millions a month into 
the pockets of the industrious, the persistent, and the lucky." 

A band of criminals, composed partly of Mexicans and largely 
of ticket-of-leave men from Australia, terrorized the town. No- 
body stirred abroad at night; and those that patronized the 
gambling rooms entered before dusk and remained until day- 
light. Some were arrested, but their lawyers were well paid and 
specious, and it was seldom that a judge could be found to convict 
them. Theft, robberies, burglary, murder were all in the day's 
work, . . . and a community of unspeakable wickedness . . . 
flourished openly on the outskirts of the City at Clark's Point. 
The harried citizens endured their outrages from the end of 1849 
to the beginning of 1851, hoping against hope that the law would 
prove equal to its obligations. . . . But although the San Fran- 
ciscan is noted for his philosophy and his patience, he is equally 
distinguished for the sudden cessation of those virtues . . . and 
suddenly, without warning, in June, 1851, the citizens of San 
Francisco "sat up," and formed the first of the two famous 
Committees of Vigilance. 

One hundred and eighty-four of the wealthiest, most prominent, 
and (what was more to the point, as it meant neglect of business), 
the most industrious and enterprising of San Francisco's men 
formed themselves into a secret Committee of Vigilance for the 
purpose of cleaning up the city morally and restoring it to 
order. 

" Executions followed immediately upon violations of law, and 
all of the gang of desperadoes were ordered to leave California 
at once. Some were shipped off, and others terrified by the hang- 
ing of their * pals,' fled without further invitation." 

The above letter from Mr. Joseph Lovell was, I believe, the 
only communication from home that reached Lieutenant Radford 
throughout the year and two months' duration of this cruise, 



BETWEEN CRUISES 209 

all other mail arriving at each appointed address after his ship had 
touched at that port and gone. The last mail sent to him was 
forwarded from Valparaiso with the accompanying letter: 

"Valparaiso, Chili, July, 14th, 1852. 
" My dear Sir, 

" The accompanying letters from two important personages, 
your pretty wife, and our Minister at the Court of Santiago, 
came to hand a few days after you sailed, and I embrace the 
opportunity of forwarding them to you by Purser Walsh who 
returns to the U. S. by way of the Isthmus. 

The Vandalia and Vincens arrived at this port some four or 
five days after you left, and are now about spreading their sails 
for home. Miss Hobson took unto herself a husband in the shape 
of Lieutenant Werden soon after the arrival of the Vandalia, and 
the officers have had quite a gay time of it. They gave the 
bridal party an elegant entertainment on board the Vandalia 
which was well attended and went off finely. . . . 

" There is nothing new here. . . . 

" J. G. McPheeters." ^ 

The joy of Lieutenant Radford's home coming was tempered by 
the receipt at the Quarantine Station of the following letter: 

" My dear Radford, 

"We are looking for you daily, altho* I think myself your 
ship cannot possibly reach New York before 20th Sept. to loth 
Oct. 

" I send this letter with one from Mary to apprise you at the 
earliest possible moment of the loss of our dear little Willie. It 
pleased God to take him from us ... on 17th July last, after 

1 Probably a member of the Important business house of " Hobson & 
Company," Valparaiso. These houses transacted business, and for- 
warded mails for the officers of the U. S. fleets. 



2IO OLD NAVAL DAYS 

12 days of great suffering. It was a great shock to Mary, but 
she bears up under it as a Christian woman should do, know- 
ing that the child is taken from the dangers and temptations of 
the world, and made perfectly happy in Heaven. . . . 

" We all feel severely little Willie's death. He just began to 
lisp a word or two, & to manifest such a sweet disposition . . . 
as to give the promise of no ordinary character. . . . 

" We have had the pleasure of Mrs. Kearny & family's com- 
pany for a few days. I regret that tliey will leave ere you can 
arrive. 

" May God bless & keep you, & give you a safe arrival, & many 
happy days with us on shore, 

" Affectionately Yours, 

" J. Lovell." 
*'Sept. 5th, /52." 

Detached from the Lexington on September 22nd, 1852, Lieu- 
tenant Radford returned to his home in Morristown, and there 
then ensued a period of some three years during which we find 
mention of his being on temporary duty at the Brooklyn Navy 
Yard, and of his serving as witness upon numerous courts-martial. 

In June, 1855, he ^^s in command of the U. S. Steam.er City of 
Boston, with orders to prevent the Steamer United States, or 
any other connected with the filibustering expeditions of the time, 
from leaving the harbor. 

This duty was not of long duration, as on July 20th, he was 
appointed a member of a committee to " examine and report on 
the different Life Boats," the other members of the said com- 
mittee being Lieutenants De Camp and J. W. Livingston. A 
letter from the latter dated Long Branch, July 27th, 1855, shows 
no great enthusiasm on the part of the writer for the business in 
hand. It reads in part: " The examination will probably take 



BETWEEN CRUISES 21 1 

place off the Battery. . . . People must want something to do to 
be at such work this warm weather. . . . 

" I heard in New York the Navy Board in Washington had 
finished their business and adjourned. ... If they have not 
' passed over ' I would feel much obliged for that Commission, 
as I am in a hurry to acknowledge its receipt before I ' pass over 
Jordan.' " 

On September 14th, 1855, Lieutenant Radford received his Com- 
mission as Commander, hence the title in the following letter: 

''Navy Yard, N. Y., Sept. 19th, 1855. 
" Dear Captain, 

" I saw Livingston yesterday and he desired me to say to you 
to keep cool ... he will inform you when your services are 
required on boat duty. 

" A terrible row in these diggins about the Navy. All those 
that are turned out swear that their friends will certainly have 
them reinstated. . . . Those who have been put on furlough 
are quite cut up, while the reserve on full pay are as happy as 
clams at high water. As to myself I am like Mohamet's coffin, 

between Heaven and Earth. H has been furloughed for 

refusing to take command of the San Jacinto, and it is reported 
that Overton Carr is to command her, and that Commodore 
Stribling will take the East India Squadron. 

" No changes have taken place here as yet except that A. F. V. 
Gray has relieved Jack Carter at the Rendezvous. . . . Write me 
a line if you have heard of any bricks. . . . 

" Yours very truty, 

" John De Camp." 

In 1855 t^6 Navy Department was paying out the *' additional 
compensation " in the way of prize money, which was granted by 
an act of March 3rd to the officers and seamen who had served 



212 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

in the Pacific Ocean on the coast of California and Mexico dur- 
ing the war; and the following is an extract from an official paper 
addressed to Lieut. Wm. Radford at that time: 

"... The amount due you on the U. S. Ship Warren is 
$746.00. 

" I herewith enclose you duplicate receipt to be signed and 
returned to this office. . . . 

"A. 0. Allen, 
" Navy Agent." 

During the year 1855 Lieutenant Radford was making every 
effort to obtain a pension for the widow of Lieut. Wm. Preston 
Griffin, who had died in 1853, and the following is a letter from 
Commodore Shubrick relating to this matter. 

"Washington D. C. 28th April, 1855, 
" My dear Sir, 

" Dr. Clymer being absent at sea, Mrs. Clymer has placed your 
letter of the 23rd inst. to him, in my hands. 

" I have obtained from the proper office, and enclose herewith 
the printed form of application for a widow's pension with direc- 
tions how to proceed in the case. 

"Mrs. Griffin is entitled to 160 acres of Bounty Land, under 
the law passed at the last session of Congress. You will find also 
included with this a printed paper showing how she is to proceed 
to obtain it. 

" If Mrs. Griffin is in your neighborhood, be so good as to 
present my kindest regards to her — it will give me great pleasure 
to serve her in any way. 

" I am respectfully yours, 
"Lieut. Radford. W. B. Shubrick." 



BETWEEN CRUISES 213 

(Commodore William Branford Shubrick was born on Bulls 
Island, S. C, October 31st, 1790. He went to Harvard in 1805 
but left there in June, 1806, upon receiving his appointment as 
midshipman in the Navy. Was made Lieutenant, January, 1813, 
and ordered to the frigate Constitution. Took part in the capture 
of the Cyane and Levant in February, 18 15; and was placed in 
command of the latter, receiving thanks and a sword from the 
South Carolina Legislature, and a medal from Congress. In 
1815-18 sailed around the world in the Washington, the first U. S. 
vessel to make this cruise. Was commissioned Captain in 1831. 
Commanded the West India Squadron 1838-40. During the war 
with INIexico he commanded on Pacific coast, taking and holding 
Mazatlan, Guaymas, La Paz, San Bias, and other ports. In 
August, 1858, he sailed with a fleet for Paraguay, where, in Janu- 
ary of the following year he exacted reparation for an attack on a 
U. S. vessel, receiving for his arrangement of this affair a sword 
from the Argentine authorities, and miUch praise at home. In 
1 861 he refused to forsake the government he had served so 
long, though some expected him to cast his lot with his native 
state. He was retired July, 1862, with rank of Rear Admiral. 

His daughter married Dr. George Clymer, U. S. N., to whom 
Rear Admiral Shubrick refers in the above letter. Dr. and Mrs. 
Clym.er's daughter married the Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, of Dela- 
ware, at that time Ambassador to Great Britain.) 

The following letter is from Captain Du Pont (later Rear 
Admiral). 

" My dear Radford, 

" I received your kind note only Tuesday of this week which 
must account for my apparent negligence in replying. 

" Let me assure you that I appreciate most fully the manly 
and generous spirit which prompted it, and I was very much 



214 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

gratified to hear from you. Many things are published and 
uttered that are not easy to bear and, as Foote says, are calculated 
to send the wolf up to a man's heart, but fortunately when my 
conscience is clear my skin becomes correspondingly thick. 

" If I wanted support, all that I should care for would be just 
such letters as yours from sources equally unblemished to make 
me equal to any contest we are likely to have. 

" Turner is at my elbow listening and disturbing me, or I 
should have something more to say. 

" Will you please make my best regards to Mrs. Radford and 
excuse this very hurried note, written under great inconveniences, 

" Believe me yours most thankfully, 

" S. F. Dupont." 

Underneath this in a different handwriting are the words: 
"■ My dear Radford, I just add a line to Du Font's — the first 
chance I have had for years of saying ' how do you do ' to you. 
These are stirring times, arn't they? I have to keep close to 
Du Pont ... for fear of a surprise, and his being thrashed — 
the Devil is united with all the rascals in this neighborhood 
against all the good men of our service, but I never felt keener 
for a fight nor more sure of Victory — God bless you, 

" Ever your old friend, 

^'T. Turner." 

(Thomas Turner, or " Tom Turner," as my father always 
spoke of him, was born in Washington, D. C, December 23rd, 
1808. He entered the Navy as Midshipman April 21st, 1825; 
Passed Midshipman June 4th, 1831; Lieutenant in 1835. Served 
in the frigate Columbia^ flagship of the East India Squadron, 
1838-41, during which time he participated in the destruction of 
the Malay pirate towns of Quallat Battoo and Mucke, on the island 



BETWEEN CRUISES 215 

of Sumatra, January ist, 1839. Commanded storeship Fredonia, 
Gulf Squadron, from June till October, 1847. Promoted to Com- 
mander September 14th, 1855; (we see by this he was not one 
who had cause to complain of the activities of the retiring board) 
and had charge of the sloop Saratoga, on the Home Squadron, 
1858-60. Commanded the New Ironsides, in the South Atlantic 
Squadron, and was highly commended for the skill and ability 
with which he handled this vessel in the attacks on the forts at 
Charleston, 7th April, 1863, and in other operations there until 
August, 1863. He was made Commodore December 13th, 1862, 
and Rear Admiral June 24, 1868. He and my father were very 
devoted friends.) 

In the year 1855 ^^^ ^^ early part of 1856, promotion was at 
a standstill in the Navy. There were men who had reached the 
age of sixty without having attained to any rank higher than 
that of Lieutenant. This was partly owing to the shortage of 
ships, which was at that time so great that many officers were 
given leave by the government to take command of merchant 
ships for which they received very high pay. Amongst officers 
who accepted command of U. S. IMail steamers during those days 
were Lieut, (later Admiral) D. D. Porter and Lieutenant Hern- 
don, the latter of whom lost his life by the foundering of the 
Mail steamer Central America, during a gale in the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

To overcome this difficulty a retiring Board was formed which 
aroused a storm of protest from the older officers, but was natu- 
rally looked upon in more kindly fashion by the younger members 
of the service. 

Speaking on December 20th, 1884, at the unveiling of the Du 
Pont statue, in Du Pont Circle, Washington, D. C, the Hon. 
Thomas F. Bayard, then U. S. Senator from Delaware, remarked: 
"In 1855, he^ became a member of a board to promote the 

iDu Pont. 



2i6 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

efficiency of the Navy, and upon him fell the main weight of 
painful responsibility in the execution of this expurgating law. 
* The cankers of a calm world and a long peace * needed ex- 
cision, and the surgery was necessarily sharp and painful. It 
drew upon Captain Du Pont a great amount of personal and 
bitter hostility from the officers unfavorably affected by the law, 
when the names of the individuals selected for retirement, by 
reason of supposed disability and unfitness, were made known. 
His popularity in the Navy, which up to that time had been well- 
nigh universal, at once lessened and he was compelled to face a 
whirlwind of disappointed ambition, denunciation, and even per- 
sonal slander and vilification. But he was in the path of duty, 
and he stood fast until the storm spent its force, leaving him 
shocked and saddened by its violence, but erect and true to his 
convictions, with not a stain upon his reputation and the arrows 
of defamation lying shattered at his feet." 

Commodore Du Pont was two years in command of the East 
India Squadron, with the Minnesota as his flagship ; and returned 
home to serve upon boards of examination, and commanded later 
the Philadelphia Navy Yard. 

In another letter of Commodore Du Pont's of April 22nd, 1857, 
we read: ". . .1 have been fortunate in getting so fine a com- 
mand. I owe it I believe to the preference of the Minister, whom 
I have known for many years and not to any special claims of 
my own. 

" My Navy friends seem very joyful at it. My own satisfac- 
tion is of course subdued in view of the responsibilities of such a 
command and a long separation from home. . . . 

^' I have just had a letter from Renshaw who is ordered as 
first. Lt. He is sore a little at his orders but is kind enough to say 
my having the command is some consolation to him. If you see 
him please encourage him (not to accept for he has already done 



BETWEEN CRUISES 217 

that) but to look forward almost certainly to a command, he 
being the Senior Lt. of a large Squadron, and to the important 
events which may occur in China. You can readily conceive how 
invaluable such an officer will be to me in such a ship, to say 
nothing of the comfort and pleasure of his being a personal friend 
to boot, etc. 

(Signed) " S. F. Du Pont." 

On September 23rd, 1858, Commander Radford was appointed 
Inspector of the ^' Third Lighthouse District," a post he held until 
October loth, 1859. Many times during the years 1853-1858, he 
had applied for a command, but the command had not been 
forthcoming. Occupied, however with the various shore duties 
to which he was assigned, the years had passed pleasantly and 
happily with his family and surrounded by many warm friends. 

The old Doughty Place which had been named by Mr. Lovell 
^' Locust Grove," because of the number of those fragrant trees 
he had planted there, overlooked the Basking Ridge road, which 
separated it from his brother-in-law's estate. (Mr. James Colles 
married Harriet Wetmore, sister of Mrs. Lovell). 

Here, in or about the year 1836, Mr. Colles built a hand- 
some residence, beyond which stands MacCulloch Hall, home 
of the late Capt. J. W. Miller, whose mother had been a Miss 
MacCulloch. 

Amongst the descendants of James and Harriet Wetmore 
Colles were: George Wetmore Colles, born 1836, whose widow is 
still a resident of Morristown; Harriet Augusta Colles, who mar- 
ried in 1845 ^^' John Thomas Metcalfe of New York; (their 
daughter, Gertrude, born March 15th, 1849, became the wife of 
Loyal Farragut, son of David G. Farragut, Admiral U. S. N.); 
Frances Colles, who married. May 15th, 1850, John Taylor John- 
ston, of New York. He was one of the original promoters of the 



2i8 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Metropolitan Museum, and its first President. His picture gallery 
was the most important in America at the time of its sale in 
1877. Their daughter Emily married, November 12th, 1872, 
Robert W. de Forest, actually President of the Metropolitan 
Museum. The other children of Mr. and Mrs. John Taylor John- 
ston now living are: John Herbert Johnston, who married, in 
1892, Celestine Noel; Frances Johnston, Mrs. Pierre Mali; and 
Eva Johnston, Mrs. Henry E. Coe. 

In November, 1859, Commander Radford received orders to 
hold himself " in readiness for the command of the U. S. Steam 
Sloop of war, Dacotah, whose destination was China; but not 
until April, i860, did the final order come to " proceed to Norfolk, 
Va.," and there join the ship. The story of this cruise, and 
the momentous decision he was called upon to make during its 
continuance, will be reserved for the following chapter. 



CHAPTER XV 
THE YANGTSZE KIANG 

Reporting at the Norfolk Navy Yard on April 23rd, i860, 
Commander Radford found the Dacotah still far from being ready 
for sea. A week's trial trip, ending May 13th, resulted in the 
following report: " She has speed, and is very easily propelled 
ten knots. During the trial she has attained for a short time the 
speed of twelve and a quarter knots under steam alone." Hardly 
a rate of speed that would appeal to our Navy today ! 

On May 15th, Commander Radford went home on a week's 
leave, and returned bringing his wife and two children, of whom 
the writer of these pages, then in her sixth year, was one, to the 
hotel in Norfolk. 

We did not remain to witness the sailing of the ship because 
my mother was recalled by the serious illness of my brother 
Stephen Kearny Radford, who had been left with his grand- 
parents in Morristown. 

On June 30th, the Dacotah weighed anchor and proceeded to 
sea. A twenty days' passage took her to Funchal, Madeira, where 
she put in for water, coal, and repairs. In Funchal there was an 
agreeable society composed of the families of naval officers who 
were on the British or U. S. African station, and of English resi- 
dents. Among other iVmericans with whom Commander Radford 
there became acquainted were the wife and young daughters of 
Dr. Maxwell, Naval Surgeon of the U. S. S. Portsmouth, (Dr. 
Maxwell's eldest daughter married Capt. Thomas H. Eastman, of 

219 



220 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

the U. S. Navy; and to her I am indebted for very valuable 
assistance in obtaining data for these memoirs.) 

From Rio de Janeiro Commander Radford reports his arrival 
on August 30th, twenty-nine days from Madeira, adding: " I in- 
tended going to the Cape of Good Hope from Madeira, touching 
at the island of Ascension; but after steaming some six days 
across the Calm Latitudes, and finding I was using twenty tons of 
coal per day more than I expected, I v/as compelled to put the 
ship under sail and come to this place. ..." 

From Rio the Dacotah continued her way to Capetown, arriv- 
ing there October 9th. How she ever reached that port at all is 
a mystery since a report of her commander's dated " Capetown, 
October i6th, i860," says: "... Upon cleaning and examining 
the boilers we found them rusted in holes in many places more 
than one third through; should the rapid corroding of the boilers 
continue, they will soon be unfit for use." 

One of the most treasured possessions of my childhood was a 
short letter written to me by my father at that time from Cape- 
town. It was on a card on which one of the sailors had painted 
a view of Table Mountain, and told of how a flying fish had fallen 
upon tlie Dacotah's deck and had been caught and cooked by his 
steward for the Commander's supper. 

From Capetown the Dacotah proceeded to Point de Galles, 
Ceylon, where again they overhaul her engines, and from where 
the Commander reports on December 4th, i860, that he has " a 
very complicated engine which requires much labor and time to 
keep in working order"; notwithstanding which he writes Com- 
modore Stribling, Commander of the Asiatic Squadron, on the 
same date: " I trust I shall be able to report in person in a few 
days after the receipt of this." 

Reaching Hong Kong in January, 1861, the engines and boilers 
of the Dacotah were there put in better shape, and in February 



THE YANGTSZE KIANG 22: 

Commander Radford left that port for Shanghai with orders to 
remain there " for the protection of citizens of the United 
States." 

" You will keep your ship and boats at all times ready for 
immediate service," is Commodore Stribling's order, " The in- 
surgents being in great force at no great distance from Shanghai, 
may at any moment attempt to occupy the city. In such an 
event you will be prompt to render such aid and assistance to 
our countrymen residing on shore or afloat as they may require, 
or your limited needs afford. But you will in no case unite with 
other foreign ships or military forces except for the protection of 
the foreign settlement and ships in the river." 

(It has taken a world-wide war to show that the interests of 
the United States cannot be entirely separated from those of 
other nations.) 

" In all your intercourse with the Chinese," continues the order, 
" you will act with kindness and forbearance, and enjoin the same 
course upon all under your command. As the efficiency of a man- 
of-war depends mainly upon the health of her crew, I cannot too 
strongly urge upon you the necessity of paying special attention 
to the health and comfort of those under your command. 

" You will write to me whenever you have any information to 
com.municate. I wish particularly information in relation to the 
expedition under Admiral Sir James Hope, about to ascend the 
Yangtsze, 

*' Your letters may be directed to this place until the 25th of 
April. 

" You will, on your passage to Shanghai, stop at Amoy, to 
communicate with Commander Schenck, of the Saginaw, or leave 
the orders herewith enclosed for him." 

The following letter was written in reply to these orders: 



222 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

"U. S. S. Dacotah, 
"Shanghai, Feb. 28th, 1861. 
" Sir, 

" I have the honor to report my arrival at this place on the 
2 7th inst. after a passage of twelve days, having been delayed by 
strong adverse winds. . . . 

" I delivered your despatch to Commander Schenck at Amoy. 
" Admiral Sir James Hope left this place some days since with 
several vessels, on his way up the Yangtsze river. He has with 
him some European pilots, formerly employed on steamers on that 
river. 

" Our countrymen at this point express great anxiety that our 
authorities shall have an expedition for observation in that quar- 
ter also. . . . 

" I shall keep you promptly informed of events transpiring 
in this quarter. 

" I am, Sir, very res'ply, 

" Your obd't servant, 

"Wm. Radford, 
" Commander. 
" Flag Officer C. K. Stribling, 
" Com'dig E. India Squadron." 

The next letter from the same to the same, dated " March 5th, 
1 861," reads: 

" Since my last report intelligence has been received from the 
expedition of Admiral Hope up the river Yangstze. That officer 
had reached the city of Nanking, and had had an interview with 
the chief of the rebel party then in possession. 

" The ' King ^ expressed a friendly disposition toward the 
foreigners, and a hope that amicable relations might exist be- 



THE YANGTSZE KIANG 223 

tween the parties. He was also willing that foreigners should 
trade on the river. 

" Admiral Hope left a gunboat at Nanking, and proceeded on 
his way to Hanskow, which place he expected to find in pos- 
session of the ' rebels ' with whom he would be obliged to open 
friendly relations. ..." 

In Capt. Thomas W. Blackiston s book, " Five Months on the 
Yang-Tsze," we read: "The Taiping rebellion originated about 
1850, in the southern province of Kwang-si. The originator of 
the movement, or rather the one known to us as such, is Hung- 
tsiu-tsuen, the present ' Tienwang,' or Heavenly king. He was 
originally educated at a Protestant missionary school in the south 
of China. 

*' Seizing on the popular longing for the return of a Chinese 
dynasty he proclaimed himself as sent by heaven to drive out the 
Tartars, and to restore in his own person the succession to China. 

" Professing, as a Christian, to abhor the vices and sins of the 
age, he called on all the virtuous of the land to extirpate rulers, 
who, both in their public laws and in their private acts, were 
standing examples of all that was base and vile in human nature. 
Crowds flocked to his standard. Putting himself at the head 
of his followers Hung-tsiu-tsuen marched northward, overthrow- 
ing every force that was sent to oppose him. So widespread 
was the disaffection throughout the country that he was able with- 
out much difficulty to establish himself in Nanking, on the Yang- 
Tsze Kiang, in 1853, and proclaim the inauguration of the Tai- 
ping dynasty, of which he nominated himself first emperor, or 
' Heavenly king.' Since that time they have sent forces in dif- 
ferent directions, and have been within a hundred miles of Peking, 
but retired from there early in 1854. Nanking has also withstood 
a two years' siege by the Imperialists. 

" A year or two ago the Taipings had many friends, particu- 



224 OLD XAV.\L DAYS 

larly among Protestant missionaries, by whom they were looked 
on as Christians; but the bubble has burst on a nearer scrutiny, 
and now it is equally the fashion to abuse them. ... * I see no 
hope,' writes Captain Blackiston, ' of the Taipings becoming the 
dominant power in China, because they are simply unable to 
govern themselves . . . but neither do I see any prospect of the 
JManchoos reinstating themselves in their former position. There 
is more or less rebellion (not always Taiping) in every province 
except one in China. Something will spring from this state of 
disorder to restore order, as has been the case a dozen times before 
in the empire. ... I have always had my opinion of the 
brigand-like character of the Taipings, but after seeing a good 
deal of both I must confess that I have no better opinion of the 
other party. ... In the meantime, looking on the mighty high- 
way — the silvery track of the great river, where the forerunners 
and pioneers of coming peace are going and returning — I anx- 
iously await the time when the tide of disorder shall have 
flowed by.' 

In a letter of Flag Officer Stribling's to the Secretary of the 
Navy, dated Hong Kong, March 13th, the Commander-in-Chief 
writes in part: ". . .1 expect to leave here about the first of 
next month for Shanghai. If I find it advisable and practicable 
I wish to go up the Yangtsze as high as Hankow, the great central 
emporium of China. This is the city highest up the river to be 
opened to foreign commerce. If Admiral Sir James Hope suc- 
ceeds in opening the river to trade it is important that our flag 
should be shown, that the inhabitants on the banks of the river 
should see that we have a Naval force for the protection of our 
ships and countrymen who may engage in trade at the cities to 
be opened to commerce. ..." 

Another letter from the same to Commander Radford, dated 
" U. S. Flagship Hartford, Hong Kong, March 29th, 1861," says: 



THE YANGTSZE KL\NG 225 

" I have received your several letters. ... I find nothing in 
them to make me change my plans. Having received a copy of 
the ' Notification ' of the opening of the Yangtsze to British trade, 
I feel bound to hasten my departure, and hope to be in Shanghai 
by the 15th of April, and as soon thereafter as I can make the 
necessary preparations, to go up the Yangtsze to make arrange- 
ments with the insurgent Chiefs to permit our ships and country- 
men to pass up and down the river. 

" I wish you to obtain all the information you can, and charts 
of any part of the river, particularly shoal places, and if you can 
find any one well acquainted wdth the navigation of the river, try 
to secure his services. 

" We shall require for the different vessels about four hundred 
tons of coal ; if there is not that quantity on hand it must be pur- 
chased. I have written you a separate letter on this sub- 
ject. ..." 

The coal for this journey was obtained from the important com- 
mercial house of 01>'phant & Co., in Shanghai, one of the mem- 
bers of which firm was, at that time, Mr. Ethan Allan Hitchcock, 
later U. S. Ambassador to Russia, and still later U. S. Secretary of 
the Interior. When in Petrograd Mr. Hitchcock himself told me 
of his having accompanied Commander Radford, as his guest 
on the Dacotah, upon that trip up the Yangtsze Kiang, in the 
course of which the first commercial relations were established 
between the United States and the cities bordering China's great 
inland waterway. 

While speaking of Mr. Hitchcock I trust I m^ay be pardoned a 
digression. Vividly do I recall certain words of his of which it 
may not be amiss to remind the world today. I was calling one 
afternoon during the winter of 1898, at the American Embassy in 
St. Petersburg. It was just after the tim.e when the ill-fated 
Emperor Nicholas II had startled the world by proposing the 



226 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

settlement of international difficulties by arbitration, and in the 
course of conversation the Ambassador, Mr. Hitchcock, said to 
me: " If the Emperor Nicholas never does another thing in all 
his life, this one thing he has now done will go down to posterity 
to the imperishable honor of his name." 

" The evil that men do, lives after them; 
The good is oft interred with their bones." 

^ The Yang-tsze Kiang rises in the Minn Mountains of Thibet, 
and after a course of 2,900 miles empties itself into the Yellow 
Sea in about 31° lat. It enters the Chinese province of Yun- 
nan at the Hwang-shing Pass, or Pass of Imperial Victory. It 
then turns northward into the province of Szechuen, and thence 
eastward to the boundary of Hoo-nan in the neighborhood 
of the Tung-ting Lake, the waters of which contribute largely 
to swell its volume. From this point it makes a curve northward 
as far as Han-kow, receiving on its way the waters of the Han 
River. From Han-kow it bends its course southward to the Po- 
yang Lake. Thence it proceeds in a northeasterly direction until 
it reaches Nanking, 200 miles from the sea. Here the influence 
of the tide begins to be felt, and beyond this point it gradually 
widens into the great estuary by which it is connected with the 
ocean." 

Commodore Stribling's report shows that the three ships, Hart- 
ford, Dacotak, and Saginaw left Shanghai on April 30th for their 
journey up the Yangtsze, two months after Admiral Sir James 
Hope had gone over the same route. In their passage up the 
river they stopped at all the ports already open to trade by the 
British. 

Captain Blackiston, in his account of the Hope Expedition, says 
that the country bordering the Yangtsze near its mouth is low, 



THE YANGTSZE KIANG 227 

and that but little high land is to be seen until nearing Chin- 
Kiang, 155 nautical miles from Shanghai. It was at this place 
that Commodore Stribling first brought his little fleet to anchor. 
They next visited Nanking, near which were the ruins of the 
Ming tombs. The country about here was well stocked with 
game, and in the reed beds under the walls of Nanking pheasants 
were so closely packed that, — as Captain Blackiston expresses 
it, — " I doubt as to whether any covert in England could have 
exhibited such an abundance." 

If such conditions prevailed at the time of the passage of the 
Dacotah it is safe to assume that tlie Ming tombs, or any other 
historical sights bordering the river, received but scant attention 
from that vessel's commander! 

One hundred miles above Nanking, approximately sixteen 
miles beyond the city of Anking, Commodore Stribling left the 
flagship Hartford, and continued his way up the river with the 
Dacotah and Saginaw. " There is sufficient depth of water in 
the river for the Hartford/' reads the report, "but there are 
some interior places into which I did not think it proper to run 
the risk of getting so heavy a ship.'* 

Sooa after passing Yang-Lo the two ships came to anchor off 
Hankow, where the immense number of river junks and the fleet 
of white sails seen, as one looked up the main river, proved the 
great commercial value of the port. 

" Hankow, the great depot of which so much has been said, 
extends for about a mile from the junction of the two rivers, 
down the left bank of the Yangtsze and up that of the Han " , . . 
the latter, which is considered the safer anchorage, is crowded 
with craft of all kind. The banks in March are eighteen to 
twenty feet high, and many houses are built out on piles driven 
into the steep sides of the Han. From July to September or 
October the whole of the neighboring country is under water, 



228 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

and within about a mile of the town the waters remain so long 
that the soil is not under regular cultivation. 

Hankow derives its importance from its trade, and there is 
no idle population. It is 588 geographical or 676 statute miles dis- 
tant from Shanghai. 

Here the Dacotah remained while Commodore Stribling pro- 
ceeded in the Saginaw alone to Yochau, on the Tung Ting Lake, 
going about 150 miles above Hankow, making a distance all told 
of more than 700 miles from the mouth of the river. 

An incident related by my father as having occurred during 
that journey probably took place while the Dacotah lay then at 
Hankow. A coolie, working on a barge alongside the ship, had 
one of his legs caught and crushed between the two. Hearing 
that it had been necessary to amputate the injured member, the 
officers of the ship promptly made up a purse of fifty dollars and 
sent it to the man. On the morning following the presentation, 
the river bank was literally lined with Chinamen all eagerly offer- 
ing to have a leg amputated at the same rate of payment. 

In his report of this journey to the Secretary of the Navy, the 
Hon. Gideon Welles, Commodore Stribling writes: " The Yangtsze 
is singularly exempt from difficulties, and with the exception of a 
place called ^ Lang Shan Crossing' (the bugbear of Yangtsze 
navigation) almost any one acquainted with the navigation of our 
Western rivers would find no difficulty in going up and down. . . . 
The display of our flag here on board a national vessel for the 
first time is worthy of being noted. The presence of our three 
steamers on the river at the same time, I think has been of 
great service to our countrymen residing on shore. I am happy 
to inform you of the continued good health of the officers and 
crews of the different vessels of the squadron. ..." 

This journey occupied but one month short of two days. 
Reaching Shanghai on May 28th, Commander Radford was im- 



THE YANGTSZE KIANG 229 

mediately ordered to proceed to Swatow to obtain satisfaction for 
the injustice done to Messrs. Bradley & Co., American merchants 
of that place, whose establishment had been looted by native 
brigands and goods valued at approximately $10,000 stolen. 

Commander Radford's orders were to " use prompt and decided 
measures in obtaining indemnity for the losses of Messrs. Bradley 
& Co." 

For over a month had the distraught U. S. Consul, Mr. Wm. 
Breck, been appealing for aid to the Chinese officials in this case, 
and finally, on June 6th, he was able to demand '' the immediate 
delivery to me on board the U. S. Steam Sloop Dacotak, now 
lying at Swatow, of all the property belonging to Messrs. Bradley 
& Co. which has been recovered, and for the balance not yet 
recovered full payment in money." 

The presence of the Dacotah and the John Adams , Commander 
J. M. Berrien, at Swatow, proved an effective argument, and the 
property was promptly paid for in full. 

From Swatow Commander Radford proceeded to Hong Kong, 
and a letter received there by him from Mr. Breck, closes with 
the words: 

" Please, Sir, accept of my thanks and kind wishes, and trust- 
ing you have quite recovered from the effects of your fall, 

" Believe me. Sir, etc., etc., 

" William Breck." 

That Commander Radford had had a somewhat serious acci- 
dent about that time is shown by several questioning letters, 
and the following from Commodore Stribling contains, in addi- 
tion to friendly inquiries, the dread news that the clouds which 
had been gathering upon the political horizon had now burst in 
fullest fury. 



230 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" Hartford, Shanghai, 
" June 13th, 1861. 

" My dear Sir, 

" I regret to have heard of your accident, or rather, I regret 
the accident. I trust it was only a momentary shock, and that 
you are now as well as usual. 

'' I suppose you found the John Adams at Swatow, and hope 
with such an imposing force, you have settled all the difficulties to 
your satisfaction. I do not expect residents or Consuls to be 
satisfied with anything less than to go to the same lengths as the 
French and English, which we cannot do. 

" If you can, I should like you to be at Hong Kong as soon as 
the John Adams. 

" News from home very bad. Civil war I fear has commenced. 
God only knows when or how it will end. All we can do is to do 
our duty and wait events. 

'' Yours truly, 

" C. K. Stribling." 

" Commander Wm. Radford." 

On July loth, 1861, Commodore Stribling wrote from Hong 
Kong to the Hon. Gideon Welles as follows: " I enclose a copy of 
a General Order which, under existing circumstances, I considered 
it proper to address to those under my command; where there is 
so much defection and such loose views of allegiance to the 
United States I considered it my duty to express myself as I 
have done in my General Order. 

" I take this occasion to express my entire confidence in the 
fidelity of the Commanders of the different vessels composing the 
Squadron under my command, and I think it may be said the 
vessels they command will be true to the Flag of the Union. 




COMMANDER WILLIAM RADFORD 

From a Daguerreotype Made Before Sailing in the 
Dacotah for China, in i860 



THE YANGTSZE KIANG 231 

There are however several of the Lieutenants and other officers 
from the seceding States who would resign if they could be per- 
mitted to return home at once. I have informed such that I would 
forward their resignations, but that they could not leave until in- 
formed of their acceptance by the Dept. None have tendered their 
resignations under this condition. 

'' Resp'ty, 

" C. K. Stribling." 

The " General Order" here referred to states in part: 

^' By the last mail we have authentic accounts of the com- 
mencement of Civil War in the United States by the attack and 
capture of Fort Sumter by the forces of the Confederate States. 

" It is not my purpose to discuss the merits of the cause, or 
causes, which has resulted in plunging our Country into all the 
horrors of Civil War, but to remind those under my command of 
their obligations now to a faithful and zealous performance of 
every duty. Coming as we do from the various sections of the 
Country, unanimity of opinion cannot be expected upon this 
subject, and I would urge upon all the necessity of abstaining 
from all angry and inflammatory language upon the cause of the 
present state of things in the United States, and to recollect that 
here we have nothing to do but perform the duty of our respective 
stations, and to obey the orders of our Superiors in authority; to 
this we are bound by the solemn obligations of our oath. 

" I charge all commanders and other officers to show in them- 
selves a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism, and subordina- 
tion and to be vigilant in inspecting the conduct of all such as 
are placed under their command. 

" The Honor of the Nation, of the Flag under which many of 
us have served from boyhood, our own honor and good name. 



232 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

require now, if ever, that we suffer no blot upon the character of 
our country while the Flag of the Union is in our keeping. 

" C. K. Stribling, 

" Flag Officer/' 
" Commander W. Radford, etc." 

There was not, however, an instant's hesitation on the part of 
Commander Radford, who, firm and unyielding in his allegiance 
to the National Cause — although his course placed him in direct 
antagonism to many members of his own family and to numbers 
of his closest friends — remained true to his country's flag, and 
" by his example " — as was said of him in later years by Admiral 
Dewey — " prevented many defections amongst the officers serving 
under his command." 

Despite the loyalty of their sentiments, both Commodore 
Stribling and Commander Radford were recalled, and ordered to 
return home via Egypt, France and England, while Captains 
Engle and McKinstry were sent out to relieve them. 

The following letter from an American resident of Hong Kong 
explains itself. 

" Hong Kong, July 25th, 1861. 

" My dear Capt'n Radford, 

" The enclosed has been sent to me to hand to you and is a 
true copy of the original letter handed to Commodore Stribling. 
Had there been time before your departure for the U. States, 
the signatures of all the Americans in China would have been 
affixed to the original letter. As it is, it bears the names of all 
the Americans residing in Hong Kong and they represent in a 
great measure those who reside at the other ports. 

" I need not say that I am most happy to endorse this copy 
to you, and to bear testimony to the pleasure it has afforded the 



THE YANGTSZE KIANG 233 

community to thus express their regard and esteem for the Com- 
modore and yourself. 

" Yours very truly, 

" W. W. Parker." 

(The testimonial here referred to is missing from my father's 
papers.) 

To a letter from the officers of the Dacotah the following reply 
was written: 

" Hong Kong, China, 

"July 27th, 1861. 
" Gentlemen, 

" Your kind and warm hearted letter is before me. I thank you 
for this evidence of your regard. I trust I need not assure you 
that I shall not soon forget the time we have spent together on the 
Dacotah and the happy relations existing between us. 

" With my most cordial wishes for your future happiness and 
prosperity, 

" I am, Very faithfully your Friend, 

'' Wm. Radford." 
" To the Ofiicers 
"of the U. S. S. Dacotah, Hong Kong." 



CHAPTER XVI 
THE " CUMBERLAND " 

At the outbreak of the Civil War the Secretary of the Navy, 
Mr. Gideon Welles, found himself surrounded by officers many of 
whom, although of doubtful loyalty, yet continued to hold their 
positions in order to hamper the government and betray its 
secrets. 

A short time before Fort Sumter was fired upon, the Com- 
mandant of the Washington Navy Yard gave a large party at 
his quarters on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter, to 
which the President and his cabinet were invited. The house 
was festooned everywhere with the American flag; yet just after 
Sumter was fired on, the Commandant, Captain Buchanan, with 
most of those under his command, including his new son-in-law, 
resigned their commissions and left the Washington Navy Yard 
to take care of itself. 

At that very time the secession of Virgina had been resolved 
upon, which was known to these disloyal officers, although not 
to the government, for the action of the Secessionists had been 
delayed and kept secret, in order to enable the conspirators to 
seize the public property at Norfolk and elsewhere. 

Everything possible to ensure the falling of the Norfolk Navy 
Yard into the hands of the Secessionists had been prepared 
for that event. 

The Secretary of the Navy, finding himself unable to cope with 
the difficulties of the situation, summoned to the Na\y Depart- 
ment Commodore Hiram Paulding, a loyal officer, who was now 

234 



THE " CUMBERLAND " 235 

declining in years. Commodore Paulding broke up the conclave 
which was in the habit of meeting in the Bureau of Ordnance, for 
he felt that these officers were inimical to the government, and 
he recommended the Secretary of the Na\y to change the sus- 
pected Chief of Bureau for another known to be loyal. 

Frequent accounts reached Washington of the hostile atti- 
tude of the people in Norfolk and Portsmouth towards the gov- 
ernment, and their determination that the Na\y Department 
should not remove a ship or a gun from the station. 

Early in April tlie Navy Department began to get uneasy for 
the safety of the Navy Yard, where lay the steam frigate Mer- 
rimac, of 40 guns; the sloops-of-war Germantown and Plymouth, 
each of 22 guns; and the brig Dolphin, of 4 guns; beside several 
old ships which had been associated with the history of the Nsivy 
and were dear to the country. These were the Pennsylvania, United 
States, Columbus, Delaware, Raritan, and Columbia. The sloop- 
of-war Cumberland was also moored at the Navy Yard. These 
vessels were valued at about two millions of dollars. 

The Department was most anxious to get the Merrimac away 
from the Yard to a place of safety, but was informed by the 
Commandant, Commodore McCauley, that it would take a month 
to put her machinery in working order. Indecision seemed to 
exist everywhere, and some of the best officers in the Navy were 
apparently quite dazed at the course which events were taking. 
Commodore McCauley, who had fought gallantly for his country 
in former days, was completely acquitted of anything like dis- 
loyalty, but with promptness and decision he might have saved 
all the ships, guns, and stores, even if he had judged it advisable 
to abandon the Navy Yard. 

In what appeared a veritable fit of panic the Norfolk Navy 
Yard was abandoned and the buildings set fire to on April 21st, 
1 86 1. The destruction took place after the arrival from Wash- 



236 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

ington of the Pawnee, of 15 guns, under Commodore Paulding, 
who bad been instructed " to save what he could and act as he 
thought proper." 

It must have been a painful alternative to that faithful old 
officer, who abhorred everything in the shape of rebellion, to be 
obliged to apply the torch to the historic ships of the Navy, and 
destroy other valuable government property, especially since he 
was aware that most of the destruction might have been pre- 
vented, had not so many days been lost in deciding what to do. 

Ail the ships, except the Cumberland, were well filled with 
combustibles, and the whole saturated with oil and turpentine. 
The shiphouses and other buildings were prepared in the same 
manner, and nothing left to chance; the rebels could derive no 
benefit from what was left behind. 

At 2.30 A.M., April 2ist, a rocket from the Pawnee gave the 
signal; the work of destruction commenced with the Merrimac, 
and in ten minutes she was one vast sheet of flame. In quick 
succession the trains to the other ships and buildings were ignited 
and the surrounding country brilliantly illuminated. 

The Cumberland had been towed out of reach of the fire by 
the Pawnee; and the Merrimac, though burned to the water's edge 
and sunk, was afterwards raised and converted into the powerful 
ironclad which was to wreak such havoc in Hampton Roads and 
carry consternation throughout the North. 

" When the Union naval officers set fire to the buildings of the 
Norfolk Navy Yard," writes Admiral Porter, in his " Naval His- 
tory of the Civil War," '' they supposed they had taken such pre- 
cautions tliat everything of value would be destroyed, but as soon 
as the Federals had departed a detachment of Virginia volunteers 
rushed in to extinguish the flames. The Merrimac had been 
sunk, but the lower part of her hull and her engines and boilers 
were substantially uninjured. 



THE " CUMBERLAND " 237 

" Lieut. John M. Brooke, one of the most accomplished officers 
among those who had left our Navy and joined the Confederate 
cause, visited the scene of the conflagration, and it at once oc- 
curred to him that the Merrimac could be rebuilt as an iron-clad; 
and his plans being accepted by Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of 
the Confederate Navy, orders were issued to have them carried 
out at once. 

" The vessel was raised and cut down to the old berth deck, both 
ends for a distance of seventy feet were covered over, and when 
the ship was in fighting trim were just awash. On the midship 
section, a length of one hundred and seventy feet was built over, 
the sides being at an angle of fifty-five degrees, a roof of oak and 
pitch pine extending from the water-line to a height of seven feet 
above the gun-deck. Both ends of this structure were rounded, so 
that the pivot guns could be used as bow and stern 
chasers. . . . 

" The wood backing was covered with iron plates rolled at the 
Tredegar works in Richmond. These plates were eight inches 
wide and two inches thick. The first covering was put on hori- 
zontally, the second up and down, making a total thickness of iron 
of four inches strongly bolted to the woodwork and clinched 
inside. 

" The ram, or prow, was of cast-iron, projecting four feet, and, 
as was found subsequently, was badly secured. The rudder and 
propeller were entirely unprotected. The pilot-house was for- 
ward of the smokestack and covered with the same thickness of 
iron as the sides. 

The motive power was the same as had been in the ship be- 
fore; both boilers and engines were very defective, and the vessel 
was not capable of making more than five knots an hour." 

Another able officer, also formerly of the United States Navy, 
Lieut. Catesby ap R. Jones, had charge of the preparation of the 



238 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Merrimac's armament, and to his skill was due the efficiency of 
her battery. It consisted of two seven-inch rifles, reinforced 
\vith three-inch steel bands shrunk around the breech ; these were 
the bow and stern pivots. There were in broadside two six-inch 
rifles similar to the above, and six nine-inch smooth-bores — in all 
ten heavy guns. 

This formidable vessel was placed under the command of Flag 
Officer Franklin Buchanan, who had resigned from the United 
States Navy, where he had reaped the highest rewards that could 
be bestowed in time of peace. He was surrounded with excellent 
officers, and no commander was ever better seconded by his 
subordinates. 

The officers of this historic vessel were as follows: Lieutenants: 
Catesby ap R. Jones (Executive and Ordnance officer), Charles 
C. Simms, Robert D. Minor (Flag), Hunter Davidson, John 
Taylor Wood, J. R. Eggleston, Walter Butt; Midshipmen, Fonte, 
Marmaduke, Littlepage, Craig, Long, and Rootes; Paymaster, 
Semple; Surgeon, Phillips; Assistant Surgeon, Algernon S. Gar- 
nett; Captain of Marines, Reuben Thorn, etc., etc. 

Thus equipped, officered and manned, the ironclad repre- 
sented at the moment the most powerful fighting ship in the 
world, and the Federal government might well feel uneasy at the 
tidings they received of this monster which threatened to carry 
destruction all along the northern coast. 

The Navy Department, in the meanwhile, had contracted for 
iron-clad vessels, but two of them were far behind time in build- 
ing; and the other was a "little nondescript " in which no one 
had any confidence, with the exception alone of Commodore 
Joseph Smith. 

On learning, however, that the Merrimac was further advanced 
than they had supposed, the Department hurried work on Erics- 
son's Monitor, of which the prediction had been made that " she 



THE " CUMBERLAND " 239 

would sink as soon as she was launched." No sooner was the 
Monitor launched and equipped than Lieut. John L. Worden, 
who had been assigned to her command, started, without a trial 
trip, for Hampton Roads. 

In the meantime the Merrimac, which the Confederates had re- 
christened the Virginia, was all ready to leave the Norfolk Navy- 
Yard on what was said to be her trial trip, but which Commander 
Buchanan had determined to make a day of triumph for the Con- 
federate Navy. 

During those days of intense excitement my mother, who was 
with her parents and children in Morristown, was enduring every 
phase of mental agony. Not that she for an instant ever doubted 
my father's loyalty to his government, but she feared lest the 
fact of his being a Southerner would militate against him with 
the authorities in Washington. In her distress and anxiety she 
wrote to Commodore Du Pont, who, in his answer, gives a 
graphic picture of the difficulties with which the Secretary of the 
Navy had then to contend. 

"Navy Dept. Washington, 3rd Aug./6i. 
" My dear Mrs. Radford, 

" Your letter has been forwarded to me here, where I am on 
temporary duty, and I take pleasure in replying the first moment 
I can command. 

" I will in the first place give you the facts in relation to 
your husband, & then will offer you as a sincere friend of his 
a few suggestions in reference thereto. 

" The Dept. has sent a Commander out to relieve him & he 
has been ordered to return home by the overland route and report 
to the Navy Dept. Commander McKinstry is the officer who 
has gone out — he went with Com. Engle — the date I do not re- 
member — the length of the voyage by the above route if the 



240 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

connection is made at various points is sixty days & returning 
about the same. 

" Commodore Stribling is to be relieved under the same cabi- 
net decision by Capt. Engle. At the time these orders were 
given the defection from the Army & Navy had reached its 
height & the circumstances attending many of the resignations 
were most startling. Officers within forty-eight hours of the time 
of their retirement, when the Capital was in peril, had declared 
their last drop of blood would be shed for the Union. Appeals 
were made in the Southern papers to the Southern officers to run 
into the Seceded ports their Commands & they were publicly 
invited to do so by one of the resigned officers. 

" The subject became a reason of State & an act of adminis- 
tration, wholly irrespective of individuals & was applied to all 
the Stations. Not a word was ever overheard against your hus- 
band that I can learn. On the contrary the greatest faith was 
felt in his loyalty — but the Dep^mt acted on principle, that no 
risk should be run of losing any of our ships. 

" These things, my dear Madam, are the stern incidents of 
War, & particularly Civil War; I ought to add, that the Dept. 
is prepared to make the most complete amende to any loyal 
officer who will return under these circumstances. Your husband 
will be immediately reintegrated in a command the moment he de- 
sires it. 

" Please say to him from me, that if I myself, coming from a 
slave state, had been relieved as he has been that I would entirely 
acquiesce in the act of the Government under the circumstances; 
for the course of the Army & Navy was such in its treachery 
and desertion that it (the Govmt.) was perfectly authorized to 
adopt such measures as it might deem best to save its property, 
if it could not save its officers. 

" I know at first this intelligence must be unpleasant to you and 



THE " CUMBERLAND " 241 

to him, but the more your husband ponders on it, the more I am 
sure his good sense & calm judgment, for which he has always 
been noted, will prevail, and prevent any hasty action on his part. 
" I am sorry you should have thought any apology necessary 
for troubling me, & I shall only be gratified if I can be of any 
further service now or when Capt. Radford returns. You will see 
from the foregoing that Yr. presence here is not at all necessary. 

" With great respect, 

" I am, My dear Mrs. Radford, 
" Yrs. truly, 

" S. F. Du Pont." 
'' Mrs. M. L. Radford, 
"Morris town." 

It is unnecessary to state that my father's arrival in Morris- 
town was hailed with the utmost delight by all the family, and we 
children — there were then four of us — could not be persuaded 
to give him a moment's peace. Despite the fact of his feeling 
ill, and pleading intense headache, there was, I think, hardly an 
instant during the entire day of his homecoming that one of us, 
at least, was not seated upon his knees with our arms about 
his neck. My mother's consternation may be therefore readily 
imagined when, that night, upon summoning the family physician, 
he pronounced my father to be seriously ill with smallpox. It 
proved in reality to be a severe form of varioloid, contracted 
through having occupied a cabin on the transatlantic steamer in 
which, on the previous crossing, a passenger had died of the dis- 
ease. The laws of hygiene and sanitation had not then been 
developed to the point of saving people from such dire hazards. 

However, though gravely ill for a few days, my father recov- 
ered rapidly, and no other case of the disease developed in the 
family. 



242 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Having reported his arrival by letter to Secretary Gideon 
Welles on October 12 th, 1861, Captain Radford received orders on 
October 30th, appointing him Inspector of the 3rd Lighthouse 
District at New York. 

The ensuing letter to the Secretary of the Navy shows that the 
manner of his recall from China still rankled in his breast. 

" Morristown, N. J., 

''Dec. 3rd, 186 1. 
''Sir; 

" Having been relieved from the Command of the U. S. Sloop- 
of-War Dacotah, of East India Squadron, and having had a per- 
sonal interview with the Hon. Secretary of the Navy in which 
he was pleased to express his confidence in my loyalty — which 
no person who knows me has ever doubted — I would most re- 
spectfully request that his belief of my loyalty should be sent me 
in writing, and also his assurance that no act of mine caused the 
Hon. Secretary to deprive me of my command. 

" Very respectfully, Your obdt. Servt., 
" William Radford, 

" Comdr. U. S. Navy." 
'' Hon. Gideon Welles." 

The reply to this was as follows: 

" Navy Department, 

"Dec. 7th, 1861. 
" Sir, 

" The assurance given by yourself and also by your late Flag 
Officer of your loyalty to the Union and the Flag gave me, as I 
said to you in our interview, sincere gratification. Indeed I had 
no reason to doubt your fidelity from any act or expression of 



THE " CUMBERLAND " 243 

\'our own, but under extraordinary circumstances I felt impelled 
from abundant precaution to do an act that was harsh and severe 
towards yourself and others. It gives me far greater pleasure to 
learn that I was in error than it could have done to have had my 
apprehensions confirmed, and it is due to you to say that no act 
of yours caused me to relieve you of your command. 

" I am, resptly yr, obdt. Svt., 

" Gideon Welles." 
'• Commander William Radford, 
" U. S. Navy." 

On February 8th, 1862, Commander Radford was detached from 
duty as Light House Inspector — a duty which at that time could 
hardly have been to his liking — and ordered to proceed to Hamp- 
ton Roads, Va., without delay, and report to Flag Officer Golds- 
borough, or the senior officer present, for the command of the 
U. S. Sloop-of-War Cumberland. 

This order must have brought joy and gladness to his heart, 
affording him, as it appeared, an opportunity of proving, by the 
faithful fulfillment of his duty, his unswerving loyalty to his 
country's flag. Never were hopes doomed to more tragic decep- 
tion. 

Proceeding immediately to Hampton Roads Commander Rad- 
ford reported as directed and had been in command of the 
Cumberland but three weeks when he received the following 
order from Secretary Welles: 

''Navy Department, March ist, 1862. 
" Sir, 

" A Naval Court of Inquiry of which you are appointed a 
Member is ordered to convene on board the U. S. Steamer 
Roanoke in Hampton Roads, Va., on the third day of March, inst. 



244 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

at which time and place you will appear and report yourself to 
the presiding officer of the Court. 

" I am respectfully yours, 

" Gideon Welles/' 
"To 

" Commander Wm. Radford, U. S. Navy, 
" Comdg. U. S. S. Cumberland, 
''■ Hampton Roads, Va." 

At that time there was at anchor in Hampton Roads, off 
Fortress Monroe, the Minnesota, of 40 guns, Captain Van Brunt; 
Roanoke, of 40 guns, Captain Marston; St. Lawrence, 50 guns. 
Captain Purviance; and several army transports. Seven miles 
above, off Newport News, lay the Congress, 50 guns; and the 
Cumberland, 30. 

It was the 8th of March, and the Court of Inquiry on board 
the U. S. S. Roanoke was in the fifth day of its session. The 
weather was beautiful, following a storm. The water was smooth 
and the vessels in the Roads swung lazily at their anchors. Boats 
hung to the swinging booms; washed clothes on the lines; noth- 
ing indicated the approach of an enemy, nor had any one ap- 
parently the slightest idea that the Confederate ram Merrimac 
was as yet ready for service. Little did Commander Radford 
dream of any danger then threatening his ship. 

At 12.45 P-^- "three small steamers" were reported coming 
around Sewell's Point, one of which was immediately recognized 
by her large smokestack as the Merrimac. Great excitement 
immediately prevailed. Signal was made to the Minnesota to slip 
her cables, get under way and pursue the enemy; but when within 
a mile and a half of Newport News the frigate grounded and 
remained fast during the events which took place that day and 
the one following. 



THE " CUMBERL.^'D " 245 

The Merrimac stood straight for the Congress and Cumberland, 
and when she was within three-quarters of a mile the latter vessel 
opened on her with heavy pivot guns. Paymaster IMcKean 
Buchanan, a brother of the Confederate commander, was an 
officer of the Congress, and the Merrimac, passing that vessel, 
steered direct for the Cumberland, the Confederate Flag Officer 
hoping that the Congress would surrender on seeing the fate of 
her consort, and that his brother would thus escape. In passing 
the Congress the Confederate ram delivered her starboard broad- 
side, which was quickly returned, and a rapid fire from both 
vessels were maintained on the ironclad. Steering direct for the 
Cumberland, the Merrimac struck her at right angles, under 
the fore-channels on the starboard side, and the blow, though 
hardly perceptible on board the ironclad, seemed to those on 
board the Cumberland as though the whole ship's side had been 
smashed in. 

Backing out, the Merrimac put her helm hard-a-starboard, and 
turned slowly, while the two Union ships poured into her a con- 
tinual fire, which apparently fell harmlessly on her iron plating. 
On the other hand, as the ironclad swung round from the Cumber- 
land, the Congress lay with her stern to the enemy, which raked 
her three times, fore and aft. In fact, the Congress was a mere 
target for the Merrimac's shot and shell, with little danger of the 
latter being injured in return. 

In the meantime the Cumberland was settling in the water from 
the effects of the great opening in her side, and although it was 
e^/ident to all on board that the day was lost, and that the ship 
must inevitably go to the bottom, those brave fellows kept up 
a rapid fire until driven by the water from the lower deck guns, 
when they retreated to the upper deck and continued to fight the 
pivot guns till the Cumberland went down with her colors still 
flying. There being no great depth of water in that spot several 



246 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

feet of the topmast remained above the waves, and the flag of the 
Union still floated bravely in the air. 

An interesting bit of history concerning that flag was told me 
recently by Rear Admiral T. O. Selfridge, who, during the battle, 
was second in command on the Cumberland. His words were 
approximately as follows: " You know," he said, "we were fight- 
ing up to the last moment ; even firing a broadside after the ship 
had commenced to go down, so that the men had all simply to 
jump for their lives. I, myself, jumped from a porthole on the 
gun-deck. Under such conditions it was of course impossible to 
save the wounded, and even toda}^ the cries of those poor fellows 
who were unable to move as the water rushed in. r*ng in my ears. 
The ship was not far from shore, and the boats had rll be?n 
lowered immediately, when the action began. Swimming to a 
boat that was lying astern, and was already well crowded, I got 
in and so reached the shore. All the boats were well loaded, but 
numbers swam ashore. The ship settled very quickly, and when 
we landed and saw the flag still flying at the masthead I called 
for volunteers to go out with me to rescue it. A number of men 
sprang forward — we were of course all dripping wet, and many 
were but half clad — and taking a small boat we started for the 
spot where the Cumberland had disappeared. The enemy fired 
at us from a distance, but the shot pretty much all fell short or 
missed us, and so we got the flag, and prevented its falling into 
the hands of the Merrimac's crew." 

This incident, so far as I am aware, has never been written of 
before. 

Rear Admiral Selfridge, was a son of Rear Admiral Thomas 
Oliver Selfridge, who was born in Boston, Mass., April 24th, 
1804, and entered the Navy as midshipman March 3rd, 1827. 
Served in the West Indies, Brazil and Mediterranean, Com- 
missioned Commander nth April, 1844; assigned to ship 




in 
in 



THE " CUMBERL.\ND " 247 

Columbus, flagship of East India Squadron, in 1845-46, and 
subsequently of the Pacific Squadron during the Mexican War, 
1846-47. In May, 1847, ^^^ was transferred to the sloop Dale, 
in which he participated in the capture of Mazatlan and Guaymas. 
At the latter place he received a severe wound, in consequence of 
which he was obliged to relinquish the command of the Dale, 
and returned home in June, 1848. After a leave he was on duty 
at the Boston Navy Yard until 1861, when he had command of 
the steam frigate Mississippi in the Gulf Squadron for a few 
months. His wound incapacitated him for sea service, and he 
had charge of the Navy Yard at IMare Island, Cal. from 
1862-65. He was retired April 24th, 1866, and promoted to Rear 
Admiral July 25th, 1866. He died in October, 1903, aged 97 
years; upon which occasion the British Naval flags were placed 
at half mast, because of his being the oldest admiral in the world. 
His son, also Thomas Oliver, was born in CharlestowTi, Mass., 
February 6th, 1837; graduated at the U. S. Naval Academy at the 
head of his class in 1854. Promoted to Lieutenant February 15th, 
i860. Was second in command of the Cumberland during her 
iight with the Merrimac, Was afterwards appointed flag-lieu- 
tenant of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Commis- 
sioned Lieutenant-Commander July i6th, 1862, and commanded 
the ironclad steamer Cairo, which was blown up by a torpedo in the 
Yazoo River near Vicksburg. He commanded the ironclad Osage 
in the Red River expedition, during which he inflicted a loss of 
400 killed and wounded on the Confederates at Blair's planta- 
tion. He had charge of the steamer Huron in both attacks on Fort 
Fisher, and commanded the third division of the landing party 
of sailors that stormed the fort. In 1869 he took charge of sur- 
veys for an interoceanic canal across the isthmus of Darien, and 
on December 31st of that year was promoted to Commander. 
In 1870 he surveyed the San Bias route, and still other routes 



248 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

during the years 1871-73. He was a member of the international 
Congress at Paris on the subject of the Canal in 1876. 

Commanded the steamer Enterprise, North Atlantic station in 
1877-80, during which cruise he surveyed the Amazon River. 
Commissioned Captain February 24th, 1881, and in January took 
charge of the torpedo station at Newport, R. L, where he re- 
mained until 1885. During his service at the torpedo station 
he invented a device to protect a ship by suspending torpedoes 
to a net by which an attacking torpedo would be destroyed. He 
was made Commodore in 1894; Rear Admiral in 1897, ^^^ was 
retired February, 1898. 

The following is the list of the officers and petty-officers of 
the Cumberland, as given in my father's own handwriting: 

" Comdr. Wm. Radford; Lieuts. Geo. U. Morris, Thos. O. 
Selfridge; Master, M. S. Stuyvesant; Act. Masters, Wm. P. 
Randall, Wm. W. Kennison; Lieutenant Marines, Charles Hay- 
ward; Pilot, Lewis Smith; Surgeon, Chas. M. Martin; Asst. Sur- 
geon, Edward Kershner; Boatswain, Edward R. Bell; Gunner, 
Eugene Mack; Carpenter, W. M. Leighton; Sailmaker, David 
Bruce; Masters Mates, Henry Wyman, E. V. Tyson, Chas. S. 
O'Neil; Paymaster's Clerk, Hugh Nott; Capt. Clerk, — Ketchum. 

'' Chaplain, John L. Lenhart. (Drowned.) 

" John M. Harrington, Master's Mate— killed." 

Of what befell the commander of the Cumberland during these 
awful moments his own report to the Secretary of the Navy will 
tell. It is dated " Fort Monroe, Va., March loth, 1862." and 
reads: 

" It is my painful duty to have to report the loss of the U. S. 
Ship Cumberland, under my command, on the 8th inst., at New- 
port News, Va. 

" I was on board the U. S. Frigate Roanoke, by order of the 
Hon. Secretary of the Navy, as member of a Court of Inquiry, 



THE " CUMBERLAND " 249 

when the Merrimac came out from Norfolk. I immediately 
procured a horse and proceeded with all despatch to Newport 
News," (the horse fell dead as he dismounted), *' where I ar- 
rived only in time to see the Cumberland sink by being run into 
by the Pvebel Ironclad Steamer Merrimac. Though I could not 
reach the Cumberland before the action was over I have the satis- 
faction of reporting that she was fought as long as her guns were 
above water. Every one on board must have done their duty 
nobly. 

" I send with this the report of Lieut. George U. Morris, who 
was in command in my absence ; also the Surgeon's report of the 
wounded saved." (By this we see that some, at least, of the 
wounded had been rescued.) " The loss was very heavy in 
killed, wounded and drowned; though the number cannot be 
ascertained accurately it is known to be over one hundred." 

Later reports give the number of those either killed outright 
or drowned as 121, while of those saved a large portion were 
severely wounded. 

" During the whole war," writes Admiral Porter, " there was 
no finer incident than this, and the bravery of the officers and 
men of the Cumberland even won the applause of the 
enemy." 

In endorsing a petition some time later from a number of the 
men of the Cumberland for " honorable discharge," Commander 
Radford wrote to the Secretary of the Navy: " If any men ever 
deserved marked consideration from their country for gallant 
conduct, those men of the Cumberland do." 

Amongst my father's papers I find a manuscript copy of a poem 
entitled " The Last Broadside," evidently written by some mem- 
ber of the crew, which, if not of a high order of poetry, still 
gives a vivid impression of the spirit that animated both officers 
and men of the Cumberland. It is headed, " Shall we give them 



250 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

a broadside as she goes? " which were the words spoken by Lieut. 
George Morris. 

"'Shall we give them a broadside, my Boys, as she goes? 
Shall we send yet another to tell 
In iron-tongued words to Columbia's foes, 
How bravely her sons say " Farewell " ? 

" * Shall we give them a broadside once more, my brave men? ' 

* Aye ! Aye ! ' rose the full, earnest cry. 

* A broadside ! a broadside ! we'll give them again ! 
Then, for God and the Right, nobly die.' 

'" Haste .'Haste ! ' for amid all that battling din 
Comes a gurgling sound fraught with fear, 
As swift-flowing waters pour rushingly in, 
Up ! up ! till her port-holes they near. 

" No blenching ! no faltering ! still fearless all seen ; 
Each firm to his duty doth bide ; 
A flash ! and a broadside ! a shout ! a careen ! 
And the Cumberland sinks 'neath the tide ! 

" The Star-Spangled Banner still floating above, 
As a beacon upon the dark wave ! 
Our Ensign of Glory, proud streaming in love, 
O'er the tomb of the Loyal and Brave!" 

George Upham Morris, son of Commodore Charles Morris, was 
born in Massachusetts, June 3rd, 1830. Commissioned Midship- 
man August 14th, 1846; Commander, July 25th, 1866. Dis- 
tinguished himself by his defense of the Cumberland of which he 
was in temporary command, March 8th, 1862. 

" As her guns approached the water's edge," said the Secretary 
of the Navy in his report for that year, " her young Commander, 
Lieutenant Morris, and the gallant crew stood firm at their posts 



THE " CUMBERLAND " 251 

and delivered a parting fire and the good ship went down 
heroically with her colors flying! " 

Captain Morris died at Jordan Alum Springs, Va., August 15th, 

1875. 

The Cumberland was, however, not to go totally unavenged, 
as when, the following day, as soon as it was fairly light, the 
Merrimac got under way and headed toward the Minnesota as she 
lay hard and fast aground, the Confederates discovered a strange- 
looking craft by her side, which they knew at once to be Erics- 
son's Monitor J cf which they had received a description from their 
spies in the North. The Monitor was but a pigmy in appearance 
-alongside the lofty frigate she was guarding, and the enemy 
anticipated little difficulty in overcoming her. Still, her arrival 
was inopportune for the Confederates, causing a change in their 
plans, " which were to destroy the Minnesota and then the re- 
mainder of the squadron." ^ 

As the Merrimac headed for the frigate Minnesota, Worden 
showed his confidence in the Monitor and her eleven-inch guns by 
steering directly for the Confederate ironclad. The latter opened 
fire from her forward guns upon what seemed more like a large 
floating buoy than a man-of-war, but not having a frigate's 
broad side to aim at the shot passed harmlessly over. The Moni- 
tor's answering guns were better aimed. The solid eleven-inch 
shots struck the Merrimac fairly, with a blow that resounded 
through the vessel. This was returned by a broadside from the 
Merrimac, but those shots that struck the Monitor's turret 
glanced harmlessly off. 

More than two hours passed in this apparently unequal duel; 
the Confederates had made no impression on the Monitor and 
their own wounds were apparently slight, since the Monitor had 
not yet succeeded in penetrating the Merrimac's heavy armor. 

^ Confederate account. 



252 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Thousands of spectators with beating hearts watched the con- 
flict from Fort Monroe, and from the ships. It seemed to them 
as though the battle would never end. At last the Confederate 
commander, thinking it useless to try his broadsides on the 
Monitor any longer, steered off towards the Minnesota, which 
opened on the Merrimac with all her broadside guns and the ten- 
inch pivot. The Merrimac returned the fire with her rifled bow 
gun, and a shell passed through the frigate, tearing four rooms 
into one, and exploding some charges of powder which set fire 
to the ship, but the flames were promptly extinguished. By the 
time the Merrimac had fired her third shell the little Monitor had 
come up with her again, and placed herself between the Minnesota 
and the enemy, compelling the latter to change her position. 
While doing this the Merrimac grounded, and the Minnesota 
poured into her the fire of all the guns she could bring to bear. 
As soon as the Merrimac got off the bottom she proceeded down 
the bay, then suddenly turned and attempted to run the Monitor 
down, but failing in the attempt she concentrated all her broad- 
side guns on the little vessel, which was keeping up a rapid fire. 

Suddenly the movements of the Monitor became erratic, and 
it was at this instant that Lieutenant Worden was disabled. He 
was looking through one of the slits in the pilot-house, when a 
shell exploded in front of the opening, driving the powder into his 
face and eyes, thus rendering him blind and helpless. He turned 
over the command of the vessel to the executive officer, Lieut. 
Samuel Dana Greene, who was in the turret, with instructions to 
continue the action, and the vessel was again headed toward the 
enemy. 

For a short time after Lieutenant Worden was wounded, the 
Monitor was entirely under the control of the man at the wheel, 
who, having no one to direct him, and being doubtless excited 
by the fall of his comman<Jing officer, steered off on another 



THE " CUMBERLAND " 253 

course without any particular aim or object, and the command- 
ing officer of the Mernmac took advantage of this circumstance 
to return to Norfolk. Professor Soley, in his work, " The 
Blockade and the Cruisers," says: " Seeing the Monitor draw off, 
Captain Van Brunt (of the Minnesota) under the supposition 
that his protector was disabled and had left him, prepared for the 
worst, and made ready to destroy his ship; but at this point the 
Merrimac withdrew to Norfolk. Greene fired at her twice, or at 
most three times. He then returned to the Minnesota and re- 
mained by her until she got afloat." 

Thus ended this remarkable engagement, which, in the bravery 
and ability displayed on both sides, has never been excelled. It 
has been a mooted point as to the amount of damage the Mer- 
rimac received. The Monitor ^ we know, received none, except to 
her pilot-house, and could have fought all day without danger of 
vital injury to her hull or machinery, but the Merrimac was 
obliged to go into drydock to be very thoroughly repaired. 

The outcome of the fight was a severe disappointment to the 
Confederates who had counted upon the capture of the whole 
Union fleet in the Roads, and an advance of the Merrimac upon 
Washington. 

On the 9th of May following Norfolk was evacuated by the 
Confederates, the Navy Yard set on fire, and the batteries at 
Sewell's Point abandoned. That determined the fate of the 
Merrimac. Her occupation was gone, and to prevent her from 
falling into the hands of the Federal government, she was blown 
up and entirely destroyed. 

" The experience we gained by the loss of the Congress and 
Cumberland'^ writes Admiral Porter, " was worth a dozen frigates, 
although we mourn the brave fellows who fell gloriously fighting 
for their country. Had there been no Merrimac we should never 
have built those magnificent ironclads, which for a time placed our 



254 C)LD NAVAL DAYS 

Navy in the front rank of the navies of the world, and enabled 
"US to bid defiance to England and France, who were too much 
inclined to meddle with our affairs. 

"The Merrimac taught our legislators the necessity of being 
more liberal in our naval expenditures, and to build armored 
vessels such as would not only be able to stand the heaviest seas, 
but to batter down the strongest forts, or destroy any enemy's 
vessel that came upon our coast. 

*' After the war was over the lesson was unfortunately soon 
forgotten, and in a few years the Navy, which was so powerful 
at the close of the rebellion, relapsed into an insignificance from 
which it will take long to recover; while other nations, taking 
advantage of our experience, have gone on building ironclads 
which astonish the world with their power." 

On March 13th, 1862, Commander Radford writes as follows to 
the Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Nav}^: 

" I have the honor to report my arrival at this place today 
(Morristown, N. J.), having had leave to come from Captain 
Marston, Senior Naval Officer at Hampton Roads. 

" In less than a week I hope to be sufficiently recovered from 
my indisposition to take any service the Government may require 
of me, 

" Very Respectfully, 
" Your Obdt. Servt., 

'' Wm. Radford, Comdr. U. S. Navy." 

In a diary of my grandfather's of that time I find the following 
note concerning my father: "He lost everything in the way of 
clothing, stores and papers by this national misfortune, and re- 
turned home in deranged health from his exposure in trying to 
take care of his remaining crew, and in assisting also in the defense 
of Newport News from a land attack of the Rebel Army." To this 



THE '' CUMBERLAND " 255 

Mr. Lovell quaintly adds: '' To his own great grief, and to our joy, 
he was absent on Court Martial duty at the time of the memorable 
encounter." 

Unable to appreciate the cause of his great distress of mind, we 
children were simply wild with delight at our father's sudden, all 
unlooked-for, reappearance in our midst. He was at all times our 
preferred companion and playmate, and when, as often happened, 
my mother would reprove him for " spoiling the children," he 
would reply that it " took all his time when at home to get ac- 
quainted with his children, and that he had none left for punish- 
ments "; which, without doubt, we richly deserved. 

This question of " getting acquainted," would frequently in- 
volve serious inroads on my grandmother's store of cookies or 
other dainties for our benefit; or, again, consist in raids upon 
my grandfather's apples, which were kept in great barrels in a 
carefully locked summer-house. But a broken lattice at a high 
angle made an opening through which it was but child's play for 
a seafaring man to pass while three or four " kiddies " would 
keep anxious watch outside lest any one should appear and detect 
tis in these nefarious proceedings. Indeed I think those escapades 
entertained my father quite as much as they enchanted us, and it 
was small wonder that his presence at home was at all times 
eagerly looked for by his, I fear, frequently somewhat unruly 
offspring. 



CHAPTER XVII 
FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR THE U. S. GO\TRXMENT 

In April, 1862, Commander Radford was appointed a member 
of a Naval Board ordered to convene at the Naval Academy, at 
Newport. R. I., on Monday, IMay 12th, imder the Presidency of 
Commodore Stribling. 

A letter written by Commander Radford to the Fourth Auditor, 
Hobart Berrian, on May 28th, 1862, reads: 

'' I should like to have my traveling accounts from Hong Kong, 
China, to the U. S. closed. All my papers were sunk in the 
Cumberland except the two principal receipts which are in your 
office. 

'' Commodore Stribling inform^s me his account was adjusted 
by allowing him nine hundred and thirty dollars. !Mine must have 
been nearly the same, as we came by the sam^e conveyance and 
at the same tim^e. I received from the Government $1,000.00 

Expended 930.00 



Due Go\TQt. $70.00 

" I hereby certify that I expended nine hundred and thirty 
dollars (or more) in traveling from Hong Kong, China, to the 
United States." 

While still at Newport Commander Radford received, on May 
27th, the following order: 

" Upon the conclusion of your present duty j^ou will proceed 
to New York, without delay, and report to Commodore Paulding 

256 



FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT 257 

for temporary duty at the Navy Yard under his command. 

" I am, etc., etc., 
" Gideon Welles." 
This order is annotated, 
*' Reported June loth, 1862, 
" H. Paulding, Comdt." 

Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding was born in Westchester County, 
New York, about the year 1800, and entered the Navy in Sep- 
tember, 181 1. His father was John Paulding, one of the captors 
of Major Andre. As a young midshipman during the second 
war with England, he saw some hard fighting with McDonough, 
in the battle on Lake Champlain, and so distinguished himself 
by his bravery that Congress voted him a sword. 

In 1825 he made a cruise to the Pacific, notably to the 
Marquesas and neighboring islands; and afterwards published a 
book, entitled, ^' Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the 
Pacific," in which he described the various islands he visited, and 
the customs of the inhabitants, etc., which were then new to the 
public. 

In 1844 he was promoted to Captain. In 1857, Paulding 
figured in the fam.ous filibustering expedition of Walker. The 
main body, commanded by Walker in person, landed at Punta 
Arenas, in the harbor of Greytown. Commodore Paulding, com- 
manding the Home Squadron, arrived in the Wabash the next 
month, when Walker, with one hundred and thirty-two men, 
surrendered to him. 

Commodore Paulding, though ranking as one of our ablest 
officers, was placed during the war, in command of the Brooklyn 
Navy Yard, where he had to perform duties which, while bringing 
no especial renown, are yet as essential in time of war to the wel- 
fare of the nation as those which command the public eye. 



258 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Commander Radford's new duty proved, however, to be far 
from temporary, as he held the post for a period of two years 
less one month, during which time, as Executive Officer of the 
Brooklyn Navy Yard, he equipped and fitted out hundreds of 
vessels for the Navy. This was perhaps the most responsible 
and arduous service of his entire life. 

Beside the many cares and responsibilities resting upon his 
shoulders was the added burden occasioned by the endeavors of 
certain evil disposed persons to convict him of being a Southern 
sympathizer by reason of the fact that he was the only member 
of his family serving with the Union forces; while innumerable 
relatives — among them his own brother John — had elected to 
cast in their lot with the Confederacy. 

A rough draft of a letter shows, in part, some of the embarrass- 
ments with which he had then to contend. Although the name of 
the person to whom it was addressed is not given the contents 
would indicate that it was sent to Mr. E. Halsey, a distinguished 
lawyer and friend of the family in Morristown. 

" Navy Yard, New York, 

"July 24th, 1862. 

" I was in Morristown night before last to see a sick child of 
mine, and Mr. Lovell told me he had seen Mr. Hedley, who 
had asked him if he was not harboring Secessionists, Mrs. Kearny 
and daughter, in his house; moreover stating that Mrs. Kearny 
had visited my quarters in the Navy Yard, and insinuations 
were cast against me for having the said lady staying in my 
home. 

" Mrs. Kearny is my sister, and the v^^idow of Gen. S. W. 
Kearny, late of the U. S. Army, and one of the many distinguished 



FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT 259 

officers New Jersey has furnished to her countr3^ She was in 
my home in the Yard. She has taken the oath of allegiance, and 
I have never heard or known of her making any remark against 
our Government. I am thus particular because it was insinuated 
by Mr. Hedley that she might give information to the rebels of 
what was doing in the Yard. 

" Mrs. Kearny came to the East for the benefit of her daugh- 
ter's health. Her physician recommended the air of Morristown, 
and that is the reason she is there. I believe her to be a perfectly 
loyal "woman, and if her husband — who was respected and 
esteemed by all who knew him — were alive he would ever be 
found battling to crush treason. One word for myself. IMy 
record with my Government would I hope show me incapable of 
a dishonorable act, and I was not aware I had left in Morris- 
town an enemy who would so maliciously and unjustifiably at- 
tempt to stab me in the dark. 

" I take the liberty of sending this to you, considering you 
one of our most distinguished townsmen and patriots, hoping if 
you hear my character assailed you will defend me when in the 
right. This much I hope and know you will do. 

" Very truly, etc., 

" Wm. Radford." 

By an order of July i6th, 1862, Commander Radford was pro- 
moted to the grade of Captain. 

The following is an extract from a letter written by 
Captain Radford to Senator Richardson on January 25th, 

1863: 

" Having seen by the papers that the promotion of Rear Ad- 
miral Paulding, whose name is before the Senate, has not passed, 
I take the liberty of enclosing a statement of his (which is known 



26o OLD NAVAL DAYS 

to be correct) relative to his actions during the early part of 
the rebellion, and earnestly solicit any aid that may be in your 
power to give to effect the promotion of this truly meritorious 
and zealous officer, whose name has never been tarnished during 
a service of over half a century." 

Among notes of my grandfather Lovell's, I find the following: 
"Navy Yard, Brooklyn, Jan. 29th, 1863, . . . Captain Radford 
has never been absent a single day from his office since he came 
here in June last . . . even Sundays up to one o'clock are given 
up to the pressing demands of Govmt. business." 

Many a night did my father work in his office up to the " wee 
sma' hours " as well. 

Again, in writing at that time to an intimate friend, Mr. Lovell 
says: *' I am now surrounded by a most loving and affectionate 
family, the heads of which, my own honored son-in-law and his 
wife, my only daughter" (his only child as well) "being both 
found ' walking in the ordinance of the Lord blameless.' " Yet 
again of his son-in-law he writes that he " realizes his exemplary 
and perfect devotedness as a father and husband; while his 
brother officers all appreciate him as a gallant, loyal, and faithful 
officer." 

Amongst the many ships that were at that time leaving the 
Brooklyn Navy Yard in quick succession to take their places in 
the fighting forces of the Union, was the double-ender, Mackinaw, 
launched on April 22nd, 1863, and christened by my sister, Mary 
Lovell Radford, then in her fourteenth year. Her attendants 
upon that occasion, both approximately of her own age, were 
Miss Emma Paulding, daughter of the Commandant of the 
Brooklyn Yard; and Miss Zeilin, whose father, Captain 
(later General) Zeilin, was then in command at the Marine 
Barracks. 

The following invitation is among my father's papers: 



FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT 261 

n f^. "New York, October 19th, 1863. 

" The honor of your company is requested on an Excursion to 
NIAGARA FALLS, in company with 

" The Admiral and Officers of the Russian Fleet. 
" The party will leave foot of Jay Street, on Thursday Morn- 
ing, 22d instant, at 8 o'clock, by Steamer, for Albany ; on Friday, 
at 8 A.M., by New York Central Railway, for Niagara. 

" On Monday, a Train will leave Buffalo, (at an hour of which 
notice will be given,) passing through Portage, Elmira, &c., over 
the Erie Railway, to New York. 

" We have the honor to enclose Tickets for these several con- 
veyances. Should you be unable to go, we will thank you to 
return them to Mr. Sherman, No. 11 Nassau Street. 
" Answer will oblige. 

" We have the honor to be 
" Your obedient servants, 

" DANIEL DREW, 
" For Hudson River Steamboat Company. 

" WATTS SHERMAN, 
" For New York Central Railway Company. 

" J. C. BANCROFT DAVIS, 
" For Erie Railway Company. " 
" To Capt. Radford, 
"• U. S. Navy." 

It is a well-known diplomatic " secret " that when the Emperor 
Nicholas I of Russia was approached by Napoleon III as to 
the expediency of recognizing the Confederacy, the former sov- 
ereign, by way of reply, immediately sent a powerful fleet, under 
sealed orders, to the United States. (Of this historical incident 
mention will be made later.) 

The following interesting letter from Capt. (later Rear Ad- 



262 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

miral) C. R. P. Rodgers, is dated " U. S. S. Wabash, Port Royal, 
14th Aug." The year is not given, but the contents show it to 
have been written in the year 1862, during which Captain 
Rodgers was Fleet Captain of the South Atlantic Squadron, under 
command of Rear Admiral S. F. Du Pont. 

" My dear Radford, 

" I had hoped to see you when I was at the North and to have 
thanked you personally for the very kind and welcome letter 
which I received from you just before I sailed, but I merely passed 
through New York on my way to New London, and so was dis- 
appointed. 

" We have come back with our good ship much improved after 
a very pleasant visit to Philadelphia and have once more settled 
down to the heavy and monotonous life on this dull coast. 

" I see that the New York papers are full of the terror felt 
at Port Royal in consequence of rebel rams said to have been 
built at Savannah and Charleston. I assure you that there is 
no alarm felt here, and the stories in the newspapers are gross 
exaggerations. The Ftngal which is described with so many 
phrases in the New York Times is a small iron steamer, which, 
after vainly endeavoring to get out with a load of cotton last 
winter, was armed with a light battery, and became the flagship 
of Tattnall's flotilla. From her construction she could not pos- 
sibly be turned into a mailclad vessel, nor could she carry a 
heavy armament. 

" There is no doubt that the Savannah people have an ironclad 
vessel, but we are led to believe that it is intended solely for 
the defense of the town, and that its steam power is barely suffi- 
cient to move it against the current. 

" Much more formidable vessels are probably in process of con- 
struction at Charleston, and may give us serious trouble before 



FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT 263 

the year is over. I understand that the naval constructor who 
equipped the Merrimac is at work upon them. 

" The health of our squadron continues to be excellent, but the 
weather has been fearfully hot. 

" I have my son Raymond (later Rear Admiral Raymond 
Rodgers) with me, having brought him out to spend his vaca- 
tion. He goes home on Sunday in the Massachusetts. It has 
been very pleasant to me to have the httle fellow. 

" Let me congratulate you, my dear friend, most heartily upon 
your promotion." (This refers to the order of July i6th, 1862, by 
which Commander Radford was promoted to the grade of Cap- 
tain.) " I hope before many years are over to serve under your 
Admiral's flag. There are very few men in the Navy under whom 
I should serve with such entire satisfaction.'^ (This hope was 
realized in 1869.) 

" I hear very gratifying accounts of your energetic administra- 
tion at the New York Navy Yard. You must have your hands 
very full of work. 

*' Corbin, who has held fast to the Wabash steadily, although 
repeatedly offered the command of smaller vessels of the squadron, 
has at last been promoted, and will relieve me in command of this 
ship, while I devote myself entirely to my duties as Fleet Cap- 
tain. I have performed both duties since Davis left us, last 
spring. This has been arranged at my suggestion. 

" I beg you to remember me most respectfully and most affec- 
tionately to Mrs. Radford, and to give my best love to all your 
children. I especially want to see my Godson," (George Reginald 
Radford, now (1920) living in Bethlehem, Pa.), " but it may be 
very long before I get North again. . . . 

'' I remain, dear Radford, 
" ever your warmly attached friend, 
'' C. R. P. Rodgers." 



264 ^^^ NAVAL DAYS 

" P. S. We are very desirous to get a band for our flagship; 
will you have the kindness to speak to Admiral Paulding on the 
subject, and remind him of it from time to time? I suppose 
Admiral Du Pont will write to him today. Corbin goes home in 
the Massachusetts for a fortnight and will speak to you about 
the band. 

"15 Aug. The Admiral (Du Pont) has just asked me to re- 
member him to you in the warmest terms of regard." 

" The South Atlantic coast was throughout the war the favorite 
ground for blockade runners, and the hardest blockading duty was 
performed in that quarter. Rich prizes were sometimes taken, 
and watchful commanders often reaped uncommon rewards; but 
with it all there was a monotonous watchfulness that wore men 
out, and many officers after the war fell into bad health, if they 
did not altogether succumb to the influence of a climate which in 
winter or summer was not conducive to longevity." ^ 

Another letter may be interesting because of the fact that the 
Spanish officer of whom it speaks was, after the Civil War, attached 
to the Spanish Legation in Washington, where, as Admiral Polo de 
Barnabe, he was a universal favorite: 

" Frigate Ironsides, 
"off Charleston, March 7th,/63. 
" My dear Radford, 

" Capt. Polo, of the Spanish frigate Carmen, is going direct 
to New York, and I give him a letter to present to you, that he 
may receive some attention from our officers while in your neigh- 
borhood. 

" These Spanish officers deserve this consideration, for they 
have studiously kept themselves aloof from our family quarrel, 

1 Admiral Porter's "Naval History." 



FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT 265 

unlike some other nations ; and this officer seems a particularly 
nice fellow; besides, he speaks English very fluently. 

" Sincerely yours, 

"T. Turner." 

The following letter is given in view of the splendid standing 
of the Marine Corps as a fighting unit: 

" Head Quarters, Marine Corps, 

^^ "Washington, D. C, Dec, 7th, 1863. 

oir, 

" In consequence of an effort which I understand is about to be 
repeated at an early day during the ensuing Session of Congress, 
viz. to transfer the Marine Corps to the Army as an additional 
Regiment, I am desirous of obtaining the opinion & wishes of 
officers of high standing in the Navy. 

" Will you be so good as to give me your opinion as to the 

necessity for, and efficiency of. Marines on shore and afloat, in 

connection with the Navy? Whether they have not generally 

been effective wherever employed, and if in your opinion, they are 

not a necessary part of the crew of a Vessel of War. Also if an 

increase in number is not required by the exigencies of the 

service. ,. _. . „ 

" Very respectfully, 

" Your Obedt. Servt., 

" Jno. Harris, Col. Comdt. 

" Capt. Wm. Radford, 

" U. S. Navy, Navy Yard, New York. 

I regret not having my father's answer to this letter. It would 
be of especial interest because two of his grandsons are today in 
that branch of the service. 

On April 24th, 1863, Captain Radford was promoted to Com- 
modore. 



266 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

During the early spring of 1864 Admiral Paulding was ordered 
to Washington on court martial duty, and the following extracts 
of letters received by him v/hilst in that city from Commodore 
Radford show how the work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard pro- 
gressed in his absence. 

" March 9th,/64. 

" I have just time to congratulate you upon the return of your 
son, Lt. Paulding," (Lt. Tattnall Paulding, whose liberation from 
Libby Prison had recently been effected through an exchange of 
prisoners), *' and hope you will soon see him. . . . The Treasurer 
tells Paymaster Barry he cannot give him small notes. I have 
written about it to the Secretary of the Navy today requesting 
small notes may be sent from Washington. . . . Everything is 
getting on well in the Yard. ..." 

"Mar. 15th. 

". . .1 regretted your absence when the Naval Committee 
visited the Yard. They came late and remained a very short 
time. Mrs. Radford had made preparations for their reception 
and was disappointed at not having the pleasure of seeing so 
many distinguished men at one time. The Yard is in a con- 
tented state as the Paymaster has money and is now paying 
the men. . . . 

" Your son looks very well considering his long confine- 
ment. . . . 

" I would have written you a more satisfactory letter — to 
myself at all events — but officers are constantly running in, and 
that unfortunate vessel the Kensington has just returned — boilers 
won't hold steam. ..." 

" Mar. 2oth,/64. 

" Everything is progressing satisfactorily in the Yard. I be- 
lieve we could send a fleet to sea if sailors could be obtained. 
None have come in from t«he Army as yet. 



FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT 267 

" I sent the Niagara in search of the Italian line-of-battle ship, 
giving her seamen belonging to other vessels, sonie twenty-nine 
all told. She had landsmen to fill up, which will give them 
a chance to get over their first seasickness, and make them equal 
to ordinary seamen on their return. The Onondaga has taken 
all the seamen we have now. . . . She is ready as far as the 
Yard is concerned, and I am doing everything in my power to 
carry out the wishes of the Department to get her off as soon as 
possible. 

" I saw your son, the Lieut, this morning. He has his leave 

for thirty days." 

"Mar. 22d./64. 

"... Case has reported and asked for a few days' leave, 
when he will assume his duties. You cannot regret more than 
myself the severance " (Commodore Radford had received orders 
detaching him from the Brooklyn Navy Yard), " but I have ever 
been ready for any duty the Dept. might require of me. Mrs. 
Radford immediately on being informed went to see Mrs. Pauld- 
ing for ' condolence.' " 

" Mar. 23rd. 

" . . .1 shall put the Onondaga in commission tomorrow. We 
have a very cold snowstorm today which makes everything look 
bleak and gloomy. I am fraid your Court will detain you a very 
long time in Washington, but I trust the relief from official duties 
at this Yard will set you up for your summer work." 

"Mar. 27th. 
" I received yours of the 23rd yesterday. . . . From present 
appearances I am afraid the Court will keep you much longer in 
Washington than you expected or wished. . . . Case's family 
live in New Burgh, on the North River. By the time you return 
I hope to have him in good training, and in a short while there- 
after be able to turn over my duties to thim. I have made ar- 



268 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

rangements for my family to go to Morristown, N. J., but I shall 
'keep quiet/ and let the Dept. dispose of me. 

" How well you describe the ' aged ' Admiral." (Undoubtedly 
Stockton.) " I have known him all my life. He was a ruffled- 
shirt, dashing officer in his younger days; always keeping himself 
well on deck, with his weather eye open. . . . We hope to see 
you back with us soon. ... I thank you, dear Admiral, for your 
kind offer to serve me, and as I know you mean what you say, if 
the time comes I will ask what you have so kindly offered." 

" Mar. 29th. 

" Capt. Shufelt, of the Proteus, will hand you this. He goes 

to Washington as a witness, and I hope you or the court will 

permit him to come back as soon as possible as his vessel is to 

go with the Onondaga to Norfolk, and it is very desirable he 

should be on board. The Onondaga will be ready tonight, but as 

the weather is not favorable if Commander Shufelt is permitted to 

return tomorrow night he will in all probability be back in time to 

go in his vessel." uo a \ '^ a 

^ ' Sunday April 3rd. 

" I yesterday received yours and have but a few moments this 
morning, though it is Sunday, to write you. . . . 

" The Niagara returned yesterday. She has had very heavy 
weather, and from Craven's account did not behave well until 
she was put before the wind. ... I should like very much to see 
some of those ten thousand men from the Army — one only has 
been received as yet — but from what I can learn I think they 
will come in rapidly, and I will fill up the vessels now ready with 
all despatch. The only news I have of the progress of the court is 
in your letters which certainly do not show even the beginning of 
the end. 

*' In absence of any positive news from Paducah I am still in 
hopes that some of my houses are left standing." 



FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT 269 

This last phrase appeared utterly incomprehensible until ren- 
dered iiitelligible by the following words in my grandfather's 
diary. Ascribing always each and every event in life to Divine 
instrumentality, Mr. Lovell writes: "Another Providential inter- 
ference in his (Wm. Radford's) favor occurred when Paducah 
was reported to be taken and destroyed by the Rebels. He has 
three stores and two dwelling houses there . . . which for a few 
days were supposed to have been destro3^ed. On the contrary 
his agent wrote immediately afterwards that his stores and dwell- 
ings were almost the only buildings that escaped injury from the 
shot and shell of our own vessels while firing into and among the 
buildings to drive out the Rebel invaders." 

The Niagara, although reported as not behaving well, had never- 
theless successfully fulfilled her mission, as is shown by the follow- 
ing letter. 

" New York, April ioth,/64. 
" I have the honor to inform you that after proposal of the 
Minister of Marine, His Majesty the King of Italy has bestowed 
upon you the decoration of Officer of the Equestrian order of 
S.S. Maurizio & Lazzaro, as a reward for the assistance you 
afforded to the Italian frigate Re (Tit alia when she got ashore 
near Long Branch. 

" Having been appointed to deliver you said decoration and 
the letter which accompanies it, I shall be very happy, Com- 
modore, to learn from you v/hen, after getting the proper per- 
mission of Congress, you will be able to accept them. 

" I am. Your most obdt. Servant, 
"Del Santo, 
" Capt. of frigate, R. I. N." 
" Commodore Radford, U. S. N., 
" Brooklyn Navy Yard." 



270 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

In his reply to Captain Del Santo, Commodore Radford 
wrote that he fully appreciated the intended honor, and 
would lay the communication before the Hon. Secretary of 
the Navy; and there the matter rested for months and even 
years to come. 

On May 15th, 1864, Commodore Radford was detached from 
the Brooklyn Navy Yard and granted one month's leave of 
absence. Later orders, however, directed him to proceed to 
Charleston, S. C. by June ist, and report to Rear Admiral Dahl- 
gren for the command of the U. S. Steamer New Ironsides. This 
latter order was subsequently modified by another directing him 
to await the arrival of the New Ironsides at Philadelphia, where 
she was being sent for repairs. 

Before entering upon that important period of Commodore 
Radford's career I should like to record a set of R.esolutions for- 
warded to him after his departure from the Brooklyn Navy 
Yard, of which the following extracts are copied verbatim from 
the original. 

" At a meeting of the Master Workmen of the Brooklyn Navy 
Yard held at the Niagara House on Thursday evening June 2nd, 
1864, 

" The Chairman briefly explained the object of the meeting 
which was to express the feelings entertained by the Master 
Workmen for Commodore William Radford, late Executive Offi- 
cer of this Station. 

" On motion, a Committee of five was appointed to report 
preamble and resolutions for the action of the meeting. . . . 

" After a brief absence the Committee reported the following, 
which was unanimously adopted: 

" Whereas, Commodore William Radford has been the Execu- 
tive Officer of the Brooklyn Navy Yard for the past two years, 
and, 



FITTING OUT SHIPS FOR U. S. GOVERNMENT 271 

" Whereas, he is now detached from the Yard, and ordered on 
sea duty, and, 

" Whereas, the Master Workmen having charge of the several 
departments having found in him a prompt, efficient, and 
laborious Officer of the Government; at all times on duty, early 
and late, whenever the interests of the Government required it; 
and conspicuous for his courteous and gentlemanly bearing to us 
all; therefore, 

*' Resolved, that we owe it to ourselves to express our heart- 
felt thanks to, and our kind regards for, him; that success, pros- 
perity and happiness may ever attend his pathway through life; 
and that he may finally reap the reward beyond the grave that 
remaineth for all true and faithful patriots. 

" Resolved, that the Chairman and Secretary cause a copy of 
the preamble and resolutions to be forwarded to Commodore 
Radford. 

'' A. H. Gale, 
"William Atkinson, Chairman. 

" Secretary." 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE '' NEW IRONSIDES " 

In the summer of 1864 the New Ironsides, named in honor of 
the Constitution, familiarly known as Old Ironsides, came up from 
off Charleston to Philadelphia where she was laid up for repairs. 

Launched on May loth, 1862, at the yard of Wm. Cramp & 
Sons, Philadelphia, this formidable ironclad had already taken 
part as the flagship of Rear Admiral Du Pont in the attack on 
Fort Sumter, April 7th, 1863; and had participated in the engage- 
ments at Forts Wagner and Moultrie under Rear Admiral Dahl- 
gren, earning thereby for herself the love and confidence of her 
officers and crew, as well as the justly founded respect and fear 
of the enemy. 

She was a huge mass of wood and iron, not handsome by any 
means from a sailor's point of view. She was bark-rigged, and 
mounted in broadside fourteen eleven-inch guns, besides two 150 
pounder Parrott rifles — all on her gun-deck. She had also on 
the spar-deck, for signaling and the like, two 60-pounder rifles 
and two Dahlgren howitzers. She had immense beam and a very 
light draft of water so that she could carry her heavy battery into 
soundings where most large vessels could not go. Her armor 
was of fourteen-inch plates, with port shutters of the same, the 
plates much indented by shots from the forts at Charleston. 

Carrying a very large complement of officers and men, and 
handling her heavy guns with almost as much ease and quickness 
as if they were thirty-two pounders, the New Ironsides was a 

272 



THE "NEW IRONSIDES" 273 

terror to all hostile batteries, for, once in position, she could pour 
in such a fire of shell that it was almost impossible for her 
opponents to stand at their guns. Her ends were not armored, 
and these had been often penetrated by shot, but no one had ever 
been killed on her gun-deck by the enemy's fire during the many 
engagements in which she had borne so prominent a part. The 
engines and boilers of the Ironsides were very fine, but unfortu- 
nately they had not power enough for the great mass in which 
they were placed, and would only drive her six knots under the 
most favorable circumstances. Her steering apparatus too was 
always getting out of order as she had a curiously contrived 
rudder fashioned like a double flap, or folding shutter, and in- 
tended to double upon itself something like the tail of a fish. 
This rudder gave a great deal of trouble at the battle of Fort 
Fisher, but despite this handicap, which, as we shall see, was 
remedied, she did her work nobly. 

The repairs occupied all the summer of 1864, during the early 
part of which Commodore Radford was relieved of his command 
and ordered to attend a Naval Board meeting in Washington in 
the month of July, as witness. On August ist he received orders 
to report anew on the i6th of that month " for the command of 
the U. S. Steamer New Ironsides" 

My mother, who spent some little time in Philadelphia before 
the date of the ship's sailing, brought back as a parting gift from 
my father, a Bible for each of the children, with the names and 
date "Aug. 27th, 1864," inscribed tlierein. I have mine beside 
me as I write — a treasured possession! 

On September 22 nd of that year the command of the North 
Atlantic Squadron which had been refused by Admiral Farragut 
because of failing health, was offered to Rear Admiral D. D. 
Porter. 

The well-known saying that " great men seldom beget great 



274 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

sons," finds a notable exception in the case of Commodore Porter, 
for he gave to his country two sons, David D. and William D., 
who were both distinguished for the very traits that had made 
their father so remarkable, and of whom the former was at least 
as famous as himself. 

David Dixon Porter was born June 8, 1813, in the town of 
Chester, Pa. He entered Columbia College, Washington, D. C, 
at the early age of eleven years, but made only a brief stay there, 
as, in 1824 he accompanied his father to the West Indies, where 
Commodore Porter was sent by the government to break up the 
gang of pirates that infested those seas. 

During the War of 181 2 Commodore Porter had been the 
terror of British commerce, for, with his good ship Essex, he had 
made even greater havoc of their merchant marine than did 
Raphael Semmes with our own during the Civil War. Porter's 
career, in his famous ship Essex, made him a popular hero, but 
having punished with some severity, during his cruise against the 
pirates, the authorities of one of the islands that had insulted his 
flag, he was ordered home, and tried by a court-martial, which 
convicted him of having transcended his authority, and sentenced 
him to a suspension of six months. Indignant and disgusted with 
this unmerited punishment, he threw up his commission, and 
joined the Navy of Mexico, which country was then fighting with 
Spain for her independence. He served in the Mexican Navy 
until 1829, when he resigned and returned to this country. 

Commodore Porter had four sons, all of whom were officers in 
either the U. S. Navy or Army. The youngest of the four was 
David Dixon, who served sixty-two years in the Navy. 

True to hereditary traditions young David took to the water 
at a very early age, serving with his father, as we have said, 
against the West India pirates when but eleven years old. 
When, in 1826, Commodore Porter took command of the Mexican 



THE '^ NEW IRONSIDES " 275 

Navy he secured a midshipman's commission for his son David 
in that service. In 1827 Midshipman David D. Porter was 
detailed to the brig Guerrero y under command of his cousin Captain 
D. H. Porter, who had also entered the Mexican service. On this 
cruise the Guerrero, having attacked and completely dismantled 
two Spanish brigs, was in turn attacked by a 64-gun frigate ; Cap- 
tain Porter was killed in one of the most desperate and unequal 
battles on record, and the brig, with her masts shot away and in a 
sinking condition, finally surrendered. The fourteen year old mid- 
shipman was taken prisoner, and confined in the guard ship at 
Havana, but was soon released and permitted to return to this 
country, where, on February 2nd, 1829, he was commissioned a 
midshipman in theU. S. Navy, and sailed in the Constellation 
for the Mediterranean. 

On February 27th, 1 841, he was commissioned Lieutenant, and 
after a cruise in the frigate Congress to the Mediterranean and 
coast of Brazil he was employed at the Naval Observatory, under 
Lieutenant Maury. When the war with Mexico broke out he 
was ordered to proceed to New Orleans and raise men for Com- 
modore Conner's fleet. 

Lieutenant Porter was with Tattnall, as First Lieutenant of 
the Spitfire, when the latter attacked the Castle of San Juan de 
Ulloa, and the town batteries. No vessel performed more active 
service than the Spitfire while Lieutenant Porter was on her. 

When the Mexican War ended he applied for and obtained a 
furlough, during which, for four years, he commanded the mail 
steamers Panama and Georgia, which plied between New York 
and the Isthmus of Darien. 

At the beginning of the Civil War he was ordered to command 
the steam frigate Powhatan, which was despatched to join the 
Gulf Blockading Squadron at Pensacola, and to aid in reinforc- 
ing Fort Pickens. On April 22nd, 1 861, he was appointed Com- 



276 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

mander, and subsequently placed in command of the mortar fleet, 
consisting of twenty-one schooners, each carrying a 13-inch 
mortar, and with five steamers as convoys, joined Farragut's 
fleet in March, 1862. For six days and nights he bombarded 
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, below New Orleans, discharging at 
them no less than 16,800 shells. Then occurred the famous river 
fight and running of the forts by Farragut, when he sailed up to 
New Orleans and captured it. He passed the forts on April 
24th, and four days later they surrendered to Porter and his 
mortar flotilla. 

The next conspicuous service of Commodore Porter was in the 
operations upon the Mississippi between New Orleans and Vicks- 
burg. His bombardment of the Vicksburg forts enabled Farragut 
to pass them. 

In September, 1862, Porter received command of the Missis- 
sippi Squadron as Acting Rear Admiral, the fleet being increased 
from twelve vessels to many times that number. Early in 1863 
he co-operated with General Sherman in the reduction of Ar- 
kansas Post, and later attacked, in conjunction with General 
Grant, the enemy's works at Grand Gulf. 

Late in 1864, being then still in command on the Mississippi, 
he was ordered to co-operate with General Butler in the reduction 
of Fort Fisher and the other defenses of Wilmington, N. C. He 
immediately turned over the Mississippi Squadron to Captain 
Pennock, and hastened north to Hampton Roads, which was at 
that time as busy and crowded a port as could be found through- 
out the world. General Grant was besieging Petersburg, and all 
the supplies for his large force passed up the James River. The 
harbor was filled with steam and sailing transports carrying pro- 
visions, coal, powder, shell, and soldiers. Immediately after his 
arrival, Admiral Porter commenced to assemble the powerful fleet 
destined to attack the important stronghold of Fort Fisher. 



THE " NEW IRONSIDES " 277 

Besides the many armed vessels, frigates, sloops-of-war, moni- 
tors, and " nondescripts " of the Union forces, there lay also in 
the Roads several foreign men-of-war, conspicuous amongst which 
was the Russian Fleet under command of Admiral Lyssofsky. 
This consisted of the flagship, Alexandre Nevsky; the frigates 
Osliaba, Captain Boutakoff; and Pereswelt, Captain Kopoutoff; 
with the corvettes, Variag, Captain Lund; and Vitiase, Captain 
Kremmer. With Admiral Lyssofsky my father was on terms of 
cordial intimacy, and as they were seated together one day in the 
cabin of the Alexandre Nevsky the Russian Commander-in-Chief 
in a sudden, though perhaps premeditated, burst of confidence, 
informed his visitor that he bore with him orders to place his ships 
at the disposal of the United States government should any other 
country evince a disposition to intervene in behalf of the Con- 
federacy. 

Many years later, I being then in Petrograd, was informed by 
Mr. Clifton R. Breckenridge, the lately arrived American Minister 
Plenipotentiary, that those identical orders had been shown to 
him upon his first visit to the Russian Foreign Office, and he had 
thus, he added, " been given proof positive that Russia alone of all 
the great foreign powers, had stood solidly back of the Union dur- 
ing the dark days of our Civil War." 

Shortly after arriving at Hampton Roads the Ironsides was 
ordered up to the Norfolk Navy Yard where she was put in fight- 
ing trim, and, after coaling, sent to Fort Norfolk to have her huge 
magazine filled with powder, shot, and shell. Two thousand five 
hundred bread bags filled with sand were also placed on the 
spar deck as protection against a plunging fire. 

By the 15th of October, 1864, the ships-of-war destined to at- 
tack Fort Fisher were assembled at Hampton Roads to the num- 
ber of about one hundred. Every class in the Navy was repre- 
sented, from the lofty frigate down to the fragile steamer taken 



278 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

from the merchant service, but all carried good guns. There were 
live Commodores in the fleet, the First, Second, Third, and 
Fourth Divisions being commanded respectively by Commodores 
Thatcher, Lanman, Godon, and Schenck; while the Ironclad 
Division, consisting of the Flagship New Ironsides, with the Dic- 
tator, Monadnock, Canonicus, Saugus, and Mahopac was com- 
manded by Commodore Radford. 

" From all these officers Rear Admiral Porter received hearty 
support, although, owing to the fortunes of war, he had been ad- 
vanced over their heads, and naturally expected to find some little 
feeling in regard to it; but there was none whatever. They met 
the Admiral in the most cordial manner and ever gave him their 
heartiest support." ^ 

At this period of the war the principal infractions of the 
blockade took place by way of Cape Fear River, the other channels 
being either in possession of Federal forces or effectually closed. 
To guard both entrances of the Cape Fear a space of sixty miles 
or more had to be patroled; and although a large force was al- 
ready stationed there, the blockade runners, which were swift, 
low vessels, would slip in of a dark night in spite of every exertion. 
At this point millions of dollars' worth of stores, munitions of 
war, cotton, etc., had made their entry and exit during the war. 
It was therefore all important to close this river, and in order 
to do so Fort Fisher must be taken, when Fort Caswell and the 
other forts and batteries would fall of themselves. 

The fleet being in readiness, wonder was expressed at the long 
delay in the attack. The weather had become wintry and bad, 
and still they did not move. It then began to be rumored they 
were waiting for some infernal machine to be finished, which was 
said to have been conceived in the fertile brain of General Butler, 
who had been appointed to command the land forces that were to 

1 Porter's " Naval History." 



THE '' NEW IRONSIDES " 279 

co-operate with the Navy in the attack. A boat, it seemed, was 
to be run in at night under the walls of Fort Fisher and there 
exploded, when the walls of the fort were to crumble more 
promptly than those of Jericho, and the garrison was to be so 
completely stunned as to allow the officers and men of Admiral 
Porter's fleet to walk quietly into the fort at their convenience. 

Finally, on the i6th of December, 1864, the fleet sailed from 
Hampton Roads, ironclads, frigates, sloops-of-war and trans- 
ports, and next day got around Cape Hatteras, the large vessels 
anchoring off Cape Lookout, while the small craft and monitors 
went into Beaufort, N. C. On the i8th, the fleet got under way 
again for the rendezvous, which was off Fort Fisher, twenty miles 
from shore. 

There they anchored, in twenty-five fathoms of water. Ad- 
miral Porter, in the meantime, had put into Beaufort, to give 
another look at the fittings of the powder boat, for he was deter- 
mined to do everything to make the experiment a success, even 
although he knew it was all folly. When all was ready the 
Admiral proceeded to the rendezvous off the entrance to Cape Fear 
River. 

The Confederates had at that time about eighteen hundred 
men in the fort, under command of Col. William Lamb, a gal- 
lant and capable soldier, while Major-General Wm. H. C. Whiting, 
formerly of the U. S. Engineers, commanded all the defenses of 
the Cape Fear River. 

The day set for the explosion of the powder boat was Decem- 
ber 18th, but the " swell increasing towards night " General Butler 
sent word to the Admiral " that he thought the attempt premature, 
and requested that it be postponed until the sea went down." To 
this Admiral Porter at once agreed, yet General Butler afterwards 
complained of the delay, grounding his failure on that circum- 
stance. It was just as well that the attempt was not made on the 



28o OLD NAVAL DAYS 

day appointed, for, on the following morning, a heavy gale came 
on from the southeast with a tremendous swell setting towards the 
beach, so that it was thought at one time all the vessels would have 
to leave the coast to avoid being driven on shore. General Butler 
and his transports had disappeared and sought refuge in the 
harbor of Beaufort." 

" No occurrence," writes Admiral Porter, '' during the war re- 
flects more credit on the Navy than the way that large fleet rode 
out the gale, anchored in twenty fathoms water, with the whole 
Atlantic Ocean rolling in upon them. As far as the eye could 
reach, the line of vessels extended, each one with two anchors 
ahead and one hundred and twenty fathoms of chain on each. 
The wind blew directly on shore, the sea breaking heavily, and 
appearing as if it would sweep everything before it, yet only one 
vessel in all the line left her anchorage and stood out to sea as a 
place of safety. It was indeed a grand sight to see these ships 
riding out such a gale on such a coast in midwinter. The most 
experienced seamen will long remember the event as the only case 
on record where a large fleet rode out a gale at anchor on our 
coast." 

Five days this tempestuous weather lasted, and when the gale 
finally abated, news came that the famous torpedo boat would 
be exploded on the night of the 23rd of December, as near the 
beach at Fort Fisher as it was possible to get her. The vessel to 
be used for this purpose was the steamer Louisiana, which had 
been altered into a huge torpedo. About two hundred tons of 
powder had been placed on board and ingenious means devised 
to explode it. The fleet had a great respect for this dangerous 
neighbor, and once when she parted her cable in the heavy sea, 
and came drifting down upon the Ironsides, every one was 
rather anxious until it was certain she would go clear of the 
ship. 



THE " NEW IRONSIDES " 281 

On the night of the 23rd the Louisiana was towed to within 
a short distance of her station by the steamer Wilderness, which 
vessel then remained in the vicinity to take off the party when 
they should have done their work. 

Exactly at 1.30 a.m. of December 24th, the powder boat went 
up in the air, making a report which seemed to those on the fleet 
some miles distant no greater than that of two 15-inch guns 
fired together. The result was absolutely nil, a mere waste of 
time and money in so far as any damage to the fort was con- 
cerned. The expedition which had been so long in preparing, 
and which had set out with such a flourish of trumpets, had 
failed ! 

Admiral Porter, who had anticipated some such denouement, 
had issued his orders the preceding evening and at daylight on 
December 24th, 1864, the fleet got under way, and stood in, in line 
of battle. 

"At 11.30 A.M. the signal was made to engage the forts, the 
Ironsides leading, and the Monadnock, Canonicus, and Mahopac 
following. The Ironsides took her position in the most beautiful 
and seamanlike manner, . . . and opened deliberate fire on the 
forts at that time opening on her with all its guns, which did not 
seem numerous in the northeast face, though what appeared to 
be seventeen were counted. These . . . were silenced almost as 
soon as the fleet opened all their batteries." 

" A few heavy shots struck us," writes Dr. Shippen, Naval Sur- 
geon on the Ironsides,'^ " cut away our rail and lower rigging, 
dashed about the sand bags on our spar deck and indented the 
armor. One ten-inch solid shot came in at one unarmored end 
forward, entered the sick bay, made a general smash of the con- 
tents of the dispensary, and was deflected from the berth deck by 
a barricade of hammocks ; just cleared a cot in which was lying 

1 Lippincotfs Magazine, March, 1878, " The Ironsides at Fort Fisher." 



282 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

the body of a marine who had died shortly before we went into 
action, and finally imbedded itself in the oak waterway." 

In an hour and a quarter after the first shot was fired not a 
shot came from the fort, and the ships were directed to keep up 
a moderate fire only. 

At sunset General Butler arrived with a few transports, but 
as it was too late to do anything more, the fleet retired for the 
night to a safe anchorage. All hands got something to eat, the 
watch was set, and all who could went to sleep early. 

The next day, Christmas, was fine and mild, and a signal was 
made at 7 a.m. for the ships to get under way and form in line of 
battle, which was quickly done. The order to attack was given, 
and " the Ironsides took the position in her usual handsome style, 
the monitors follovv^ing close after her." 

During the forenoon the transport fleet approached and began 
to land troops on the beach two miles or more above the fort. 
About three thousand men had landed when the Admiral was 
notified they were re-embarking. He had seen the soldiers near 
the fort reconnoitering, and had hoped an assault was to be made. 

The fleet drew off at sunset, with the exception of the iron- 
clads which continued firing throughout the night, in expectation 
of the troops attacking in the morning. The crews of these ves- 
sels were more fagged out than any of the others, not only through 
keeping up a constant fire — beginning first, and last to cease — 
but also because of the construction of the ships, the heavy guns, 
and the fact that they were firing most of the day against a light 
westerly wind which caused the men's eyes and throats to be 
affected by the powder and smoke. The blast from the guns being 
driven inboard by the breeze, m.any of the " spongers " were tem- 
porarily blinded by the rush of hot sulphurous air when loading 
and firing rapidly. 

The fleet did not renew the attack the next day because of 



THE " NEW IRONSIDES " 283 

General Butler's having withdrawn his troops and reported that 
" the place could not be carried by assault." ^ 

This abandonment of the expedition by General Butler with 
his army created the greatest indignation among the naval 
forces who had thought the prize within their reach. It was but 
little consolation to reflect that it was no fault of the Navy or of 
the brave troops who had been brought so far for nothing. The 
expedition which had been so long in preparing, and which had 
set out with such a flourish of trumpets had failed. 

After the transports had departed the fleet proceeded to Beau- 
fort to fill up with coal and ammunition while awaiting promised 
reinforcements; for no sooner had General Butler's troops re- 
embarked than the Admiral sent a swift steamer to General Grant 
urging him to send "other troops and another General"; a re- 
quest with which General Grant promised he would immediately 
comply. 

While lying there off Beaufort, Commodore Radford wrote to 
Admiral Paulding as follows: 

" I intended writing you when we had captured Fort Fisher, 
but as that has been postponed I will write you now and tlien 
also. The Squadron made a very handsome fight on the 24th and 
25th of December and I think the troops could have occupied the 
Fort had they made an attack, as the Fort was silenced with the 
exception of one or two guns in casemates ; but the greatest enemy 
the fleet has had to encounter is the tempestuous weather. I have 
lost the use of my rudder, it having had the head twisted entirely 
off just above the blade, and yet I have again to lead the fleet into 
action. I will do my best, but a ship like this without the use of 
her rudder will be apt to go where she pleases. 

" I hear from you frequently through Mrs. Radford and recol- 
lect with pleasure our past association. 

1 See Appendix at end of volume. 



284 ^LD NAVAL DAYS 

'^ Do you intend doing anything in regard to the compliment 
offered you by the King of Italy? Congress should give us the 
privilege of answering one way or another. 

" Give my kindest regards to your family." 

On January 8th, 1865, Major-General A. H. Terry arrived at 
Beaufort to take command of the Army that was to co-operate 
with the Navy in capturing Fort Fisher. 

On January 12 th, the fleet sailed from Beaufort, and at 8 a.m. on 
the 13th, the transports commenced to land General Terry's 
troops, batteries, and provisions. By two o'clock there were 
8,000 troops on shore, with all their stores and munitions of war. 

While these army movements were taking place the fleet was 
moving into position for the attack. The Ironsides, leading, was 
followed in by the monitors Monadnock, Commander E. G. Par- 
rott; Canoniciis, Lieutenant-Commander G. E. Belknap; Saugus, 
Commander G. R. Colhoun; and Mahopac, Lieutenant-Com- 
mander A. W. Weaver. 

Steaming to within eight hundred yards of the fort, which 
opened upon them as they approached, they took up their posi- 
tion without firing a gun until they were ready, then only opening 
their batteries. The firing was returned very briskly, showing the 
garrison had received reinforcements and had mounted more 
heavy guns. 

"As the wooden ships were engaged landing troops," Com- 
modore Radford reported of this engagement, " the ironclad 
division received the fire nearly all day alone from Fort Fisher, 
without receiving any very material damage, and remained in 
position during the night. By orders from Admiral Porter the 
ironclad Division commenced the action at 10.47 a.m. on the 14th 
instant, and continued firing until after dark. On the morning of 
the 15th, we commenced the action at 7.16 a.m., and continued to 
fire during the day, concentrating it upon the guns of the battery 



THE '' NEW IRONSIDES " 285 

which was doing the most effective work, which was invariably- 
soon silenced or disabled. As the troops were advancing, I ob- 
served two field pieces in the rear of the fort firing on them, which 
we soon silenced with some well-directed shells from this ship. 
When the enemy came out of their bomb-proofs to defend the fort 
against the storming party, I used my battery with great success 
against them, every shell bursting, apparently, in the right place. 
At 5.20 P.M. v/e ceased firing by orders from the flagship, nearly 
every gun on the fort facing us having been disabled in the first 
two days' action. I cannot close my report without speaking in 
the highest terms of the battery of this ship, and the manner in 
which it was served for three consecutive days, my officers and 
men fighting all day and taking in ammunition during the night. 
I know of nothing surpassing it on record. I would now speak 
of the monitors, and the handsome manner in which they were 
handled and fought during the time; and the different attacks on 
Fort Fisher have not only proved that they could ride out heavy 
gales at sea, but fight their guns in moderately smooth weather, 
which has been doubted by many intelligent officers." 

An amusing incident during the first day of the engagement 
was the conduct of a game cock, a great pet among the crew oi 
the Ironsides. 

On previous days of fighting he had been carefully put away 
below but this time he had escaped from durance vile and 
promenaded the spar deck fluttering his wings and crowing loudly, 
apparently enjoying the roar of the battle. By nightfall he was as 
hoarse and husky as any of the division officers, and he had had 
one or two very narrow escapes from shot and splinters. 

" The 15th of January broke clear and bright," writes Dr. 
Shippen, " and we went in closer than ever, in fact until we were 
barely afloat, and recommenced the bombardment about 8 o'clock. 
At eleven o'clock the troops being all landed and entrenched, the 



286 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

storming party of marines and sailors from the fleet pulled for the 
beach and were soon established on the dry land. The ironclad 
division sent no men to the storming party, as these vessels were 
to keep up a deliberate fire, or to open on the fort again in case 
our men were repelled. 

'' About 2.30 the naval column was ready to advance. It moved 
along the beach with the intention of assaulting, or ' boarding ' 
the sea face of the main work. As the fire from the fleet ceased 
the garrison came out of their bomb-proofs in a swarm and man- 
ning the parapet of the sea face shot down our men as though they 
were partridges in a covey. The losses were very heav>% twenty- 
one officers from the Navy alone being killed or wounded. But 
their lives were not thrown away, for the naval attack made a 
diversion, drawing the garrison to the sea face, and distracting 
their attention from the movement of the troops, who, emerging 
from the fringe of scrub wood about the fort, formed into line of 
battle — all veterans from the James River! Without beat of 
drum — with arms at ' right shoulder shift,' — they proceeded at a 
double quick across the sandy plain extending to the base of the 
huge mamelons which formed the land side of the fort at right 
angles with the beach. Nearly all the guns on that side had been 
dismounted, but the garrison opened on the assaulting force with 
musketry, while a howitzer cut gaps in the advancing lines at each 
discharge. 

" Not a shot was returned by our men. The line curved some- 
times as the grape from the howitzer tore through it, but the 
officers would spring to the front, steady the men, and the gap 
was soon closed. Soon they reached the foot of the huge earth- 
works, and the axes were seen to gleam as the strong palisade was 
cleared away. 

" At last we see our own men on one of the western mamelons. 
A sharp fight takes place for the first traverse; men killed or 



THE " NEW IRONSIDES " 287 

wounded roll down the steep incline; the shouts and yells grow 
louder; and then comes a rush, a pell-mell struggle, and we see 
the colors slowly rise and finally gain the top of the next mound. 
Here the same determined resistance and the same close fighting 
go on, to be followed by another cheer, another rush, and the tak- 
ing of the next point. At this time General Terry signaled to our 
ship to fire into the traverses ahead of the assaulting troops, and 
afterwards signaled to say: ' Just right! You are throwing your 
shell just where they are needed/ 

" At dusk our ship was obliged to cease firing, as we could no 
longer distinguish between friends and foes." 

Although the Ironsides ceased firing at 5.20 p.m. on the 15th, 
the fighting in the fort continued until about ten o'clock, when the 
garrison, in number about 1,800 surrendered. The fact was at 
once communicated to the fleet by signal lanterns, and round after 
round of hearty cheers went up from every ship. The weary, 
smoke-begrimed crews turned in, well satisfied that at last their 
perseverance had been rewarded by complete success. 

"Thus," sa>3 Admiral Porter, "was Fort Fisher won after a 
gallant attack and as gallant a defense on the part of the Con- 
federates as any one interested in their cause might desire. It 
was a terrible sight to see those men, all of one blood, sternly 
fighting in the dark for over four hours, almost breast to breast, 
shooting or bayoneting each other on the tops of the traverses or 
around the sides, while the Ironsides would explode her 11 -inch 
shrapnel so well timed that they would burst over the heads or 
in amongst the struggling mass of Confederates, who were doing 
their utmost to hold on to the traverses behind the bomb-proof; 
but when the calcium-light of the Malvern " (Admiral Porter's 
flagship) " was thrown upon these desperate soldiers, and ex- 
posed them plainly to the Ironsides^ gunners, they were swept 
away by the dozen. Never did men fight harder than the Con- 



288 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

federates, and never were cooler soldiers than the Federals, who 
gained traverse after traverse with the aid of the wondrous fire 
of the Ironsides until they stood on the last one, when the enemy 
fled to the beach near the Mound, pursued by the Federal troops; 
and the former, having no hope of escape, laid down their arms 
and submitted to their captors. 

" Three cheers went up from the Federal soldiers, the crews on 
board the ships made the welkin ring with their shouts of joy, the 
steam-whistles blew, the bells rang, sky-rockets filled the air, and 
every yard-arm was illuminated with the Coston night-signals. 
Not a man there but saw this was the death blow to the rebel- 
lion. No more army provisions or clothing could enter the only 
open port — Wilmington. Submission might not come immediately, 
but the end was not far off. The soldiers who had so strenuously 
fought to gain the stronghold could now, at the end of the war, 
join their families with the proud boast that they were the as- 
saulters that finally carried Fort Fisher, while the Na\y, that had 
for so many days breasted the storms of winter on the dangerous 
coast of North Carolina, could, in years to come, tell their com- 
panions how, for thirty-five days, they had fought the ocean in 
its wrath and defied the elements ; how they had coaled their ships 
and taken in their ammunition while the vessels were rolling 
and pitching like mad, and how they had battered the heaviest 
earthwork in the Southern Confederacy until not a gun remained 
serviceable on its carriage. 

" The casualties of the Federal Army were 691 officers and 
men killed, wounded and missing, while the Navy lost 309 more. 
The defeated but gallant enemy went into the battle 2,500 strong 
and surrendered only 1,800 men." 

Early on the morning of January i6th, a terrible explosion 
occurred in the fort. A bomb-proof was blown up, whether acci- 
dentally or otherwise was never known. About one hundred 



THE '^ NEW IRONSIDES " 289 

bodies, Union soldiers and sailors and Confederates were all 
hurled together into the air. It was a sickening sight and took 
away much of the pleasure of the victory. 

Immediately after the explosion, the Ironsides was ordered to 
haul off to a safer anchorage, and, to the great joy of all, to heave 
overboard the mass of sand which had so long encumbered the 
spar deck, making it resemble a desert waste rather than the spot- 
less promenade of a man-of-war. 

Another good reason for getting rid of the sand was, that as the 
ship had fired nearly four thousand rounds, the shell room and 
magazine were about empty and the weight of sand on the upper 
deck made her topheavy and tipsy in her motions. 

While this was being done Commodore Radford, accompanied 
by a party of officers, among whom was Dr. Shippen, went 
ashore to visit the fort. On their way they passed boat loads 
of wounded being taken either to their own vessels or to the hos- 
pital ship. The beach was strewn with fragments of shell, 
musket balls, etc., and dead bodies. Climbing to the top of one 
of the traverses, a height of about forty feet, they had a fine view 
of the fort, and while standing there they were accosted by the 
Major of a Pennsylvania regiment who told them he was the only 
regimental field officer left for duty in the regiments which had 
composed the assaulting force. 

On the afternoon of January 17th all hands on board the New 
Ironsides were called to muster, and the following letter from 
Admiral Porter was read: 

" U. S. Flagship, Malvern, 

"Off Fort Fisher, Jan. 17th, 1865. 
" Commodore, 

" You will proceed with your vessel to Norfolk, Va., in company 
with the U. S. S. Susquehanna, and, on your arrival there, will re- 



290 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

port to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy, for further orders. 
In taking leave of you, permit me to express the high appreciation 
I feel of the services you have rendered me since you have been 
under my command. To your vessel, more than to any other in 
the Squadron, is the country indebted for the capture of the out- 
works of Cape Fear River. Ready at all times to go anywhere, 
you have, in my opinion, shown the highest qualities an officer 
can possess, and I have never tired, in looking on, in admiration 
at the endurance of your vessel, and the terrible execution she 
has done while in your hands. I hope it may be my good fortune 
to be associated with you again in a war against the enemies of 
our country, and I hope you may then command the same old 
Ironsides, with her present gallant officers and crew. I know the 
result will be victory. In the late assaults on the forts, the Army 
are mainly indebted to you for their success, for notwithstanding 
their gallantry, they could not have passed from traverse to 
traverse without the aid of your guns which swept the openings 
between the traverses, while the Army advanced from point to 
point, and the highest compliment I can pay your gunners 
is, to say that when I signaled to the General to know if he was 
not afraid of an accident from your guns ranging so close to his 
men, he replied, * No, that your accuracy of fire was splendid.' 
When the New Ironsides goes, I shall part with you and her with 
regret, though no further assistance can be required of her here. 

" While I am writing this (at 2 o'clock at night), the enemies' 
works at Fort Caswell are being blown up, in consequence of our 
capture of this stronghold, and thus ends the outside fortifications 
on Cape Fear River. If I could get your ship in the river Wil- 
mington would be ours in a day. 

" You will have the satisfaction of having been engaged in the 
most important event of the war, and of knowing that you have 
contributed vastly to the result. 



THE '' NEW IRONSIDES " 291 

" Please communicate to your officers and men the high opinion 
I entertain of them, and the physical endurance they have dis- 
played in this long and harassing bombardment, and accept your- 
self the warmest wishes of 

" Yours very truly and respectfully, 

'' David D. Porter, 

" Rear Admiral." 
*' Commodore Wm. Radford, U. S. N., 
" Comd'g U. S. S. New Ironsides." 

The officers of the New Ironsides during the attack upon Fort 
Fisher were: Commodore Wm. Radford; Lieutenant-Commander, 
R. L. Phythian; Lieutenants, A. R. McNair, H. B. Rumsey, and 
H. J. Blake; Surgeon, Edward Shippen; Assistant-Surgeon, G. A. 
Bright; Paymaster, George Plunkett; First Lieutenant of Marines, 
R. S. Collom; Acting Masters, H. P. Conner and George Dorey; 
Acting Ensigns, Walter Pearce, W. A. Duer, and J. W. King; 
Acting Masters, Masters' Mates, C. C. Bamford, J. F. Silva, and 
W. E. Wilson; Engineers: Chief, Alex. Greer; Second Assistants, J. 
H. Hunt, W. S. Cherry, W. J. Reid, N. P. Towne, and W. S. 
Wells; Third Assistants, J. K. Stevenson and A. H. Henderson; 
Boatswain, Wm. E. Leeds; Gunner, Wm. Cope; Carpenter, 
J. E. Cox; Sailmaker, G. T. Lozier. 

In his report of January 28th, 1865, to the Secretary of the 
Navy, Admiral Porter ^Tites: 

" Commodore William Radford in command of that noble 
ship the Ironsides, and also in command of the Division of 
Monitors, gained m.y warmest admiration by his conduct 
throughout this affair. He has shown abilities of a very high 
character, not only in fighting and maneuvering his vessel but 
in taking care of his division. Ready at all times for battle, 
and eager to go into the fight alone, he performed admirably when 



292 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

his guns were brought to bear on the enemy. His vessel did 
more execution than any vessel in the fleet; and even when our 
troops were on the parapet, I had so much confidence in the 
accuracy of his fire that he was directed to fire through the 
traverses in advance of our troops and clear them out. This 
he did most effectually, and but for this victory might not have 
been ours. Having broken his rudder in a heavy gale he rigged up 
a temporary one under adverse circumstances, and had his ship 
ready as soon as the rest. He seemed never to tire of fighting, 
and for three days laid within a thousand yards of Fort Fisher 
without moving his anchor, and made the rebels feel that we 
had come there to stay. Under all and every circumstance, Com- 
modore Radford has acquired an enviable reputation, and is 
deserving of the greatest promotion that can be given him." 

The Ironsides left for Hampton Roads just in time to avoid 
another long spell of cold stormy v^^eather which caused much 
damage and suffering on the exposed coast where she had 
been. 

From Fortress Monroe, Commodore Radford reports his ar- 
rival to the Hon. Gideon Welles, on January 20th, 1865, and 
vmtes: 

" Having twisted off my rudder head and otherwise injured 
it in the gales off North Carolina, I rigged temporary steering- 
gear and can direct imperfectly the course of the vessel in smooth 
water, which, I am happy to say, we have had for the last eight 
days, with the exception of a few hours after I left Fort Fisher, 
when, though neither wind nor sea was strong I could not control 
the course of the vessel in the least. 

" She has been otherwise considerably strained and requires 
caulking. Her repairs will necessitate docking. Though often 
struck she has not been much hurt by the balls of the enemy. 
One of her iron plates has been badly smashed by a ten-inch 



THE " NEW IRONSIDES " 293 

solid shot ; another came through her side just forward of her plat- 
ing, etc." 

But there was then no time for repairs, for, on January 24th, 
at 8.45 P.M., came a telegram from Washington, saying: '^ Pro- 
ceed up James River with all possible despatch and assume com- 
mand of James River Division. If your vessel will not go up, 
leave her, and take command at the front, reporting to Lieutenant- 
General Grant. 

" Gideon Welles, Sec." 

The response, sent immediately, read in part: "All ready; 
shall leave at early daylight." This was supplemented two days 
later by the following telegram: 

" City Point, Va., Jan. 26th/65. 
" Sir, 

" I have the honor to report my arrival at 10 a.m. today, and I 
have reported to General Grant as ordered. 

" Wm. Radford, 
" Hon. Gideon Welles. '' Commo." 

Foaming up the James River under her own steam, but with 
a powerful tug on either quarter, went the Ironsides to Bermuda 
Hundred, there to protect the immense stores of the Army of the 
Potomac, then before Petersburg, from a threatened raid of rebel 
rams. General Ord, who commanded on that flank, no sooner 
saw what manner of craft had come to his support, than he 
expressed himself as entirely satisfied, and said he should no 
longer trouble himself about rebel ironclads. Nor did they ever 
appear, but were shortly afterwards destroyed by their own 
people. 

A telegram to Secretary Welles from Admiral Farragut, who 
was visiting the Headquarters of the U. S. Armies at that time, 



294 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

reads, under date of January 26th: "Your telegram of the 25th 
received — All appears to be right. Radford is at his post with an 
ample force." 

On January 27th, Commodore Radford reports from City Point 
to'^the Secretary of the Na\y: " I returned from obstructions at 
midnight with Admiral Farragut who has left in the Don" 
(Lieutenant-Commander Eastman) "for Annapolis"; and an- 
other report of the same date sent from Bermuda Hundred to 
Admiral Porter, reads in part : " I have the honor to inform you 
that in obedience to orders from the Secretary of the Navy I 
took command of the James River Flotilla, etc." 

In answer to the latter, Commodore Radford received a letter 
from Admiral Porter saying in part: 

" I received your communication notifying me that you were 
in charge up the James. I only wish you had been there sooner, 
and then we would not have had that disgraceful stampede. I 
do not think the rebels will attempt anything more; they are 
closed up for this season, and if, as General Grant says, he can 
take Richmond when he pleases, ... he may, I hope, soon 
have the rams on our side. I do not understand the ram fever. 
I never had it. . . . York River is in your Divison; will you 
inquire how matters are going on there. ... I hope you will 
try an extensive torpedo system near the obstructions, . . . 

" You will please send me frequent reports of matters, and do 
all that you may think necessary to make matters secure in the 
James. If the vessels want men, apply directly to the Bureau of 
Equipment and Recruiting. 

" Respectfully, 

" David D. Porter." 
" Com. Wm. Radford, 

" Comd'g in James River." 




%'Ssm •' '-"Sb 



THE " NEW IRONSIDES " 295 

" Before the fleet left Hampton Roads," writes Admiral Porter, 
" every care was taken that the James River, below Hewlett's 
Battery, should be kept so perfectly guarded by a naval force 
that there could be no possible chance left for the Confederate 
ironclads to make an attack on the vessels below the obstructions 
sunk in the river, which consisted of several large schooners 
loaded with stones, sunk in the middle of the stream, and heavy 
booms and chains extending from the sunken vessels to either 
shore and secured to anchors planted in the bank. 

" These obstructions were immediately under the fire of the 
Onojtdaga, a double-turreted Monitor, and also of a battery on 
shore belonging to the Army. A pontoon bridge was in place 
below the vessels guarding the obstructions, to enable the Army of 
the James to retreat across the river under cover of the gunboats, 
in case it was attacked by a superior force. There could be no pos- 
sibility of the enemy's fleet getting past the obstructions while 
the Federal naval force maintained its position; but, in case it 
should be driven away, the Confederates could have blown up 
the obstruction, passed through and broken up the pontoon bridge, 
thus cutting off the Army on the left bank of the James from its 
supports, and threatening City Point, where all the stores were 
gathered for the use of the Army before Richmond. . . . 

" As long as the Onondaga floated the Confederate vessels could 
not get down with safety, any more than the Federal ships could 
get up, and the only way by which the Confederates could meet 
with any success was for them to send down a dozen torpedo- 
boats, and try to destroy the double-turreted Monitor." 

Commodore J. K. Mitchell was at that time in command of the 
Confederate naval forces on the James River, and he determined 
to make an attempt to pass the obstructions and break up the 
pontoon bridge. 



296 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Accordingly, at daybreak one morning, two of the rebel iron- 
clads appeared around the point near Hewlett's Battery and ap- 
proached the obstacles, where they stopped. Commander Will- 
iam A. Parker, in command of the Federal naval force, had been 
instructed by Admiral Porter, in case the Confederate fleet should 
show itself below Hewlett's Battery, to get under way and pro- 
ceed up close to the obstructions, to hold on there and keep 
up his fire as long as a Confederate ironclad remained in sight. 
For some strange reason Commander Parker turned the head of 
his vessel downstream and seemed for a moment about to destroy 
the pontoon bridge; but, suddenly reflecting, he attempted to i 
turn his ship in that narrow river, got aground, and knocked off 
the wings of one of his propellers. It would be ungenerous 
to criticise Parker's conduct, since it was proven afterwards that 
he was of unsound mind, and previous to his fiasco he had stood 
high in the naval service both as a brave man and an excellent 
officer. 

The commanders of the two Confederate ironclads behaved in 
quite as erratic a manner as did the captain of the Onondaga. 
They came to anchor at a place called the Crow's Nest, and lay 
there all night, as though uncertain what to do. They doubtless 
wondered what had become of the Onondaga, when the follow- 
ing morning she appeared returning up the river. On seeing her, 
the two Confederate ironclads got under way and proceeded up 
towards Hewlett's Battery. They did not^ however, get off witli- 
out some damage. When the Onondaga reached the obstructions 
Commander Parker opened fire on the retreating vessels with all 
his fifteen-inch guns. 

One of the Confederate ironclads had just turned the point, but 
the rear one received a solid shot which pierced her side, in- 
flicting some injuries to her hull, and killing and wounding several 
of her men. Thus ended this remarkable affair, which might have 



THE '' NEW IRONSIDES " 297 

caused serious trouble if it had been conducted with any deter- 
mined dash. 

After this, the obstructions were further strengthened by sink- 
ing another large schooner loaded with stones, and that was the 
last attempt the Confederates ever made to reach City Point with 
their naval force. " But the commander of the Federal vessels lost 
an opportunity to gather some laurels, an opportunity that never 
occurred again, while the Federal Navy lost a page in history 
which might have been chronicled as one of the brightest events 
of the war." 

This incident, related by Admiral Porter in his ^' Naval History 
of the Civil War," explains the remarks of the Commander-in- 
Chief, in his last given letter. 

The following report of Commodore Radford transmits a report 
of Lieutenant-Commander Blake. 

" U. S. S. New Ironsides, 
off Bermuda Hundred, Jan. 28th/65, 
" Sir, 

" I have the honor to enclose Lt. Comdr. Blake's report. 

" As soon as I arrived at this place, on the 26th inst. I took 
a tug and proceeded to the front, and found the Onondaga close 
to the obstructions. The Atlanta came up after my arrival and 
was anchored ahead of the Onondaga. The Saugus arrived next 
morning; has been anchored below the Onondaga, Three of the 
wooden vessels are anchored just out of range of the rebel battery 
to support the iron vessels in case of an attack. Before I arrived 
General Grant had ordered the breach made in the obstructions 
filled up with two schooners loaded with coal. We are prepared, 
and should they have the temerity to make another attack you 
will, I trust, hear a good account of us. 

" Lt. Comdr. Blake I found in command of the Onondaga, and 



298 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

have kept him in command, which I hope will meet with your 
approval. 

" I have been constantly employed getting the vessels in their 
proper places. 

" There are so many rumors that it requires constant vigilance 
to be prepared at all points. 

" Very Resptly Yr. Obdt. Servt., 

" Wm. Radford, 

" Comdg. 5th Division." 
" R. Adml. David D. Porter, 

" Comdg. North Atlantic Squadron." 

A telegram to Secretary Welles dated, ^' Off Bermuda Hundred, 
Feb. 5th/65," reads: " I directed the vessels in the lower part of 
James R.iver to co-operate with Gen. Graham in destroying 
some torpedo-boats said to be in Pagan Creek; " and another of 
February 7th, says: ''Was at Front all day yesterday. It was 
reported last night at 8.30 that the enemy's fleet was coming 
down toward obstructions. No news of them this morning. 

"Wm. Radford, 
" Commodore." 

On February i8th, 1865, Admiral Semmes assumed command of 
the Confederate fleet in the James River, relieving Commodore 
J. K. Mitchell. This fleet was assisted in the defense of the river 
by shore batteries under command of naval officers. The Con- 
federate vessels were not in the most efficient condition as regards 
their persojtnel, which was mostly drawn from the Army. The 
real difficulty in getting to Richmond with the Federal gun- 
boats was in the heavy fortifications along the James River above 
Howlett's Battery, the sunken torpedoes, and the obstructions in 
the channel, which could not be removed under fire. 



THE ''NEW IRONSIDES" 299 

While the Federal and Confederate forces on the river were 
in this position, General Grant was gradually enveloping Rich- 
mond with his army ; and Commodore Radford and the officers of 
his command, while at Bermuda Hundred, had many oppor- 
tunities of witnessing the operations in front of Petersburg, and 
of noting the work of the Army in daily conflict with a brave 
and vigilant foe. They were lying not far from, and made almost 
daily visits to, City Point, where were General Grant's head- 
quarters, consisting of a row of beautifully built log cabins. 

On February i8th the Ironsides was sent to Norfolk for the 
long delayed repairs, and Commodore Radford transferred his flag 
to the Dumbarton^ finding her the most suitable and convenient 
vessel for his purpose. 

We cannot take final leave of the good ship Ironsides without 
mentioning a communication received by Admiral Porter, and 
forwarded by him with orders that it be read " upon the quarter 
deck of every vessel in this Squadron." 

" Executive Mansion, 

"Feb. lotli, 1865. 
" Sir, 

" It is my agreeable duty to enclose herewith the joint resolu- 
tion approved 24th Jan., 1865, tendering the thanks of Congress 
to yourself, and the officers and men under your command, for 
their gallantry and good conduct in the capture of Fort Fisher, 
and through you to all who participated in that brilliant and 
decisive victory under your Command. 

" Very Respectfully, 

" Abraham Lincoln." 
" R. Admiral D. D. Porter." 

The enclosed Resolution was as follows: 



300 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
U. S. of America in Congress assembled, 

" That the thanks of Congress are hereby tendered to R. Ad- 
miral David D. Porter and to the officers, petty officers, seamen 
and marines under his command for the unsurpassed gallantry 
and skill exhibited by them in the attacks upon Fort Fisher, and 
the brilliant and decisive victory by which that important work 
lias been captured from the rebel forces and placed in possession 
and under the authority of the United States; and for their long 
and faithful services and unwavering devotion to the cause of 
the country, in the midst of the greatest difficulties and 
dangers. 

" Sec. 2. And be it further resolved, that the President of the 
United States be requested to communicate this Resolution to 
Admiral Porter, and through him to the officers, petty officers, 
seamen and marines under his command. 

(^' Approved Jan. 24th, 1865.") 

In a report to Admiral Porter dated " U. S. S. Dumbartojt, off 
Aiken's Landing, Feb. 23rd/65," Commodore Radford says in 
part: 

" In an interview I had with General Grant yesterday he in- 
formed me that he had received information from Richmond which 
indicated that the rebels propose making a grand attack on his 
intrenchments. At the same time the rebel Navy will attack us, 
and if successful, will get possession of the rivers, ... I am in 
readiness, and have no fears of their success against us. ..." 

Constant watchfulness was required, and there were many ex- 
changes of telegrams between commanders concerning the enemy's 
movements. One dated " City Point, Va., Feb. 2 5th/65," reads: 

" I think it not impossible that the enemy may send their rams 



THE " NEW IRONSIDES " 301 

down tonight, or during present high water. I have directed vigi- 
lance on the part of pickets. . . . 

" U. S. Grant." 
" To Cmmodore Radford, 

" Comdg. James River Squadron." 

Amidst these many military orders pertaining rather to a 
more detailed history, we find some suggestive of lighter duties, 
as for instance the following: 

" Headquarters Department of Virginia, 
Army of the James, Before Richmond, Va. 

"March 17th, 1865. 
" Com. Wm. Radford, 

" Comdg. Naval Forces, James River, 
" Commodore, 

" The Gen'l Comdg. sends you a horse with the wish that you 
will ride up to these Hd. Qrs. to meet the Honble. Secy, of War 
and witness a review which takes place today. 

" I have the honor. Commodore, 

" to remain Respectfully 
" Your obt. servt., 
" Thom.as G. Welles, 
" Capt. & A. D. C." 

On the morning of March 22nd, 1865, Commodore Radford left 
on the flagship Dumbarton for the Norfolk Navy Yard where he 
remained for three days, during the second of which the steamer 
River Queen, escorted by the Bat (Lt. Comdr. John S. Barnes), 
passed up the James River conveying President and Mrs. Lincoln 
to City Point, where they were to visit General Grant. 

Leaving Norfolk on March 25th, the Dumbarton anchored the 



302 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

following day off the Washington Navy Yard, when the officers 
were detached and the ship '' turned over to the army," while 
Commodore Radford left on a short leave of absence for 
Morristown. 

In my grandfather's diary, already frequently referred to, is 
the entry under date of April 22nd, 1865: " The Commodore was 
here lately on a ten days' leave, which he, we, and the children 
enjoyed very much." And again in a letter of that period, Mr. 
Lovell writes: "Mrs. Radford is very well and so are her dear 
children, embracing ^ young Ironsides ' — the newcomer — born al- 
most amid the smoke and roar of the cannon of Fort Fisher, where 
his father lay in the forefront of the battle in his good ship the 
New Ironsides, without receiving a hurt to any one of the crew 
during that tremendous, very extraordinary and most decisive 
conflict of the war." 

The '' newcomer " here mentioned was born on December 27th, 
1865, and being a fine and sturdy specimen of boyhood, was in- 
stantly yclept by our Rector, Mr. Merritt, who was an English- 
man, Edmund Ironsides. 

Although my mother never countenanced the giving of this 
name to the child, it was taken up enthusiastically by every one, 
even including my grandfather, and when my father arrived for 
the baptism, which had been deferred until his coming, he eagerly 
concurred with the suggestion, and so '' Edmund Ironsides," the 
boy who had come into the world during the interim between the 
two great battles of Fort Fisher, was christened amidst great 
family rejoicing. 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON 

When General Lee surrendered at Appomattox the work of the 
North Atlantic Squadron was over in so far as fighting was con- 
cerned, for all the James River region was in the hands of the 
Federals. Up to that time the squadron in Trent's Reach was 
quietly holding the Confederate ironclads under command of 
Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes, above Drury's Bluff, where they 
were quite harmless and would either have to be blown up or 
surrendered. 

The Confederate lines in the vicinity of Petersburg having 
been weakened by the necessity of withdrawing troops to defend 
Lee^s extreme right at Five Forks, General Grant, on the morn- 
ing of the 2nd of April, ordered a vigorous assault to be made 
on the enemy, which gave the Federals possession of Petersburg, 
and rendered Richmond no longer tenable. 

On the night following this success. President Lincoln went 
on board the flagship Malvern, as the guest of Admiral Porter. 
On every hand was heard the sound of artillery and musketry, 
showing that the Federals were closing in on the Confederate lines. 

As the President and Admiral Porter were seated on the upper 
deck of the flagship, the President remarked: " Can't the Navy 
do something at this particular moment to make history? " The 
Admiral replied: " The Navy is doing its best just now, holding 
the enemy's four heavy ironclads in utter uselessness. If those 
vessels could reach City Point they would commit great havoc — as 

303 



304 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

they came near doing while I was away at Fort Fisher. In con- 
sequence, General Grant ordered the channel to be still further 
obstructed with stones, so that no vessel can pass. We can hold 
the fort with a very small force and prevent any one from remov- 
ing the obstructions. Therefore, the enemy's ironclads are use- 
less.'^ 

" But can't we make a noise? " asked the President. ^' Yes," 
replied the Admiral, ^' and if you desire it I will commence." 

The Admiral telegraphed to Lieutenant-Commander K. R. 
Breese, Fleet Captain, who was just above Dutch Gap, to have 
the vessels' guns loaded with shrapnel, to point in the direction 
of the forts, and to keep up a rapid fire until directed to stop. 
The firing commenced about eleven o'clock p.m., and the President 
listened attentively while the flashes of the guns lighted up the 
horizon. In about twenty minutes a loud explosion shook the 
flagship and the President exclaimed: " I hope to Heaven one of 
our vessels has not blown up! " The Admiral assured him that 
the explosion was much further up the river and that it was 
doubtless one of the Confederate ironclads. A second explosion 
soon followed, and not long after two more, which caused the 
Admiral to remark: " That's all of them; no doubt the forts are 
evacuated and tomorrow we can go up to Richmond." 

The Confederate version of the story states that as Admiral 
Semmes was sitting down to his dinner on board his flagship, about 
4 o'clock on the 2nd of April (the day Grant had broken through 
Lee's lines), a special messenger brought him a letter from the 
Confederate Secretary of the Navy, in which were the words, 
" Unless otherwise directed by General Lee, upon you is devolved 
the duty of destroying your ships this night, and with all the 
forces under your command joining General Lee." 

Semmes had originally intended sinking his vessels quietly, so 
that the Federals would have no idea of what was going on; 



THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON 305 

but soon after dark he saw the whole horizon to the north of the 
James lighted up, rendering concealment on his part no longer 
necessary. The officers and men were put on board the small 
gunboats, and at about midnight the ironclads blew up, one after 
another, with a terrific explosion, adding to the grandeur of the 
scene, as the barracks were already in flames. The shells burst- 
ing as the fire came in contact with them, the signal rockets from 
both sides filling the air like thousands of shooting stars; the 
booming of guns in the distance, the long roll of the drums calling 
tlie troops to fall in, mingled with the sound of trumpets, all 
combined to make a spectacle and an uproar as though pande- 
monium had broken loose. It seemed as if heaven and earth had 
united to celebrate the conclusion of a struggle that had caused 
so much suffering. 

That was the end of the Confederate Navy, which went up 
in what might have been considered a blaze of glory, but for the 
fact that the James River fleet had been the most useless force 
the Confederates had ever put afloat — the forts, torpedoes, and 
obstructions on the river being far more formidable adversaries, 
and quite sufficient, if properly managed, to keep any hostile ves- 
sels from ascending the narrow channel, where, if one should 
happen to be sunk, it would effectually bar the progress of those 
behind it. 

Those who for many months had guarded the obstructions in 
the river rejoiced when the monotonous task was concluded. If 
rockets v/ere sent up, and national salutes fired, the demonstra- 
tion was as much on account of the return of peace as in honor 
of victory. It signalized the end of that fraternal strife between 
people who could never live apart, but who, united under one 
government, could bid defiance to the world in arms. 

" Whether our country will profit as much as it should from 
past experience remains to be seen," writes Admiral Porter, " but, 



3o6 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

so far, we have not given much evidence of progress in matters 
pertaining to the defense of our coasts and the construction of a 
navy adequate to protect the nation from foreign and domestic 
enemies, which latter exist in every country, no matter how 
beneficent may be its laws." 

When the channel was reported clear of torpedoes Admiral 
Porter proceeded up towards Richmond in the Malvern, preceded 
by the Bat, with President Lincoln following on board the River 
Queen. Finally, the Malvern grounded below the city, and the 
Admiral, taking the President in his barge and accompanied by 
a tug with a file of marines, continued on to Richmond. About 
a mile below the landing, the tug was permitted to go to the 
relief of a party in a small steamer who were caught under a 
bridge and held by the current, and the barge proceeded alone. 
The street along the river front was deserted, and, although the 
Federal troops had been in possession of ihe city some hours, not 
a soldier was to be seen. A dozen negroes who were digging 
nearby with spades, seeing the President, joined hands and com- 
m.enced to sing a hymn, to which the President listened respect- 
fully. Before it was finished the street seemed suddenly alive with 
the colored race, and the crowd around the President becoming op- 
pressive, it was necessary to order the boat's crew to fix bayonets 
and surround him to keep him from being crushed. The negroes, 
in their ecstasy, could not be made to understand that they 
were detaining the President, and would not feel that they were 
free unless they heard it from his own lips. Mr. Lincoln, there- 
fore, made a few remarks, assuring them they were free and giv- 
ing them good advice, after which the party managed to move 
slowly on to the city. 

The sidewalks were lined with people, white and black, but 
there was no anger on any face. At one point a beautiful girl 
struggled through the crowd and presented Mr. Lincoln with a 



THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON 307 

bouquet of roses. There was no cheering at this, nor any evi- 
dence of disapprobation, but the girl was surrounded and plied 
with questions on returning to the sidewalk. 

At the moment when President Lincoln entered the city the 
majority of the Federal troops were engaged in putting out the 
fires that had been started by the Confederates as they left the 
place. 

At length a cavalryman was encountered, and the Admiral sent 
him to inform the General-in-command of the arrival of the 
President, and to request a military escort. A troop of cavalry 
arrived promptly, the streets were cleared, and the President 
soon reached the mansion just vacated by Mr. Davis, and now 
the headquarters of Generals Weitzel and Shepley. It was a 
modest house, comfortably but plainly furnished. 

A great crowd of civilians assembled around the house, greeting 
the President with loud cheers. General Shepley made a speech, 
after which the President and party entered a carriage and visited 
the State House, the late seat of the Confederate Congress. 

After this Admiral Porter urged the President to go on board 
the Malvern, as he began to feel the responsibility resting on 
him for the care of his person. In fact, the Admiral was op- 
pressed with uneasiness until he once more stood with Mr. Lincoln 
on the deck of the flagship, and he determined the President 
should go nowhere again, while under his charge, without a guard 
of marines.^ 

Mr. Lincoln did not go again to Richmond. On Wednesday 
morning, April 5th, the President with the Admiral started down 
the river in the barge, the tug again taking them in tow, and arriv- 
ing at Dutch Gap they rejoined the River Queen. The Bat, 
which had remained at anchor at Fort Darling, took up her place 

1 Abbreviated from Admiral Porter's *' Naval History of the Civil 
War." 



3o8 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

as convoy, and at half-past three the President's vessel was again 
lying at anchor at City Point. 

Early the following morning the Malvern came down to City 
Point, and the President again took up his quarters on board. 
Mrs. Lincoln (who had returned to Washington on April ist, 
leaving with the President only his young son " Tad " and Captain 
Penrose, his aide), came back again from Washington on the morn- 
ing of April 6th, with the Secretary of the Interior, the Attorney- 
General, and Senator Sumner. " They were transferred to the 
River Queen, which took them up to Richmond, the President re- 
maining with Porter on board the Malvern. Here he passed two 
days." ^ 

On April 4th, the very day upon which President Lincoln, 
accompanied by Admiral Porter, Captain Adams of the Navy, 
Captain Penrose (the President's aide), and Lieutenant Clem- 
mens of the Army (Porter's signal officer), entered Richmond, 
Commodore Radford hoisted his flag on board the U. S. S. Phlox, 
at the Washington Navy Yard, and leaving there steamed down 
the Potomac and up the James River, stopping at 3 p.m. the 
following day to take on board Lieutenant-Commander Selfridge 
from the U. S. S. Huron, from whom the Commodore received the 
latest news of the great events that had transpired during his 
absence. 

At 8.30 P.M. on April 5th, the Phlox came to anchor off City 
Point. The following morning at 9.30, Commodore Radford went 
on board the flagship Malvern, returning at 1.30. No sooner had 
he come aboard than the Phlox got under way and steamed up 
the James River, anchoring at 6.45 p.m. alongside the wharf at 
Richmond. 

While stopping at City Point Commodore Radford had taken 
on board the Phlox as his guest Vice-President Johnson, for whom, 
although a member of the Presidential visiting party, no quarters 

^ James Russell Soley: "Life of Admiral Porter." 



THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON 309 

had been provided. Whatever may have been the reason of his 
coming aboard the Phlox — (it was said that Mrs. Lincoln did not 
like the Vice-President and consequently did not wish him with 
their party) — certain it is that Mr. Johnson, when President of 
the United States, showed, whenever occasion offered, his appre- 
ciation of the courtesy thus extended. 

For two days the Phlox lay at Richmond, and while there Com- 
modore Radford discovered his stepbrother Meriwether Lewis 
Clark among the Confederate prisoners whose release had not yet 
been effected. He proceeded at once to take steps for his libera- 
tion, when, to his amazement, he found that Colonel Clark declined 
to accept this at his hands. Seeing that he could otherwise be of 
no aid to his stepbrother. Commodore Radford obtained permis- 
sion to have him taken aboard the Phlox as a prisoner of war; 
knowing that there at least he could be made physically com- 
fortable; and there — willingly or unwillingly — he remained until 
his release was procured. 

Another incident of that same visit to Richmond showed a feel- 
ing among the young ladies of the city somewhat different from 
that displayed by the one who had presented the bouquet to Mr. 
Lincoln. As the Commodore, accompanied by an officer of his 
staff, was walking along one of the streets, they met a young 
woman who, as she passed, turned her head away from them in 
most pointed fashion. Unused to such treatment from the young 
girls of his native state, Radford said in a loud tone to his com- 
panion: " You may know that one is not very good-looking, or 
she would never have done that." 

Instantly the young woman faced about — a beauty if ever 
there was one — and as the two officers in the hated uniform 
lifted their caps, she, after one desperate effort to crush them 
with a glance, completely lost her composure and they all began 
to laugh. 



310 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

In the log of the PJdox under date, "April 8th, 1865," occurs 
the following entry: "At 9.30 a.m. left Richmond and steamed 
down the James River with the Vice-President on board " ; and 
the following letter of later date shows that Senator King, of 
New York, was also a guest of Commodore Radford's at that time. 

" New York City, Aug. 29th, 1865. 
"Wm. Radford, 

" Acting Rear Admiral. 
"Dear Sir, 

" Your letter of Aug. 14th, went to Ogdensburg, N. Y. & 
has found me here. I regret that I cannot present it in 
person to the President. I enclosed your letter and Mr. Mum- 
ford's in a letter to the President reminding him of our very 
pleasant voyage from Richmond to Norfolk, and the favorable 
impression you then made, and asking attention to your wishes. 

" Very Respectfully, 

" Preston King." 

So far as I have been able to discover, there exists no official 
record of Vice-President Johnson's having visited Richmond and 
the James River at that time, other than that of the above entry on 
the log of the Phlox, and therefore it and Senator King's letter are 
not without a certain historical value. 

While the Phlox, on April 8th, was steaming down the James, 
the River Queen, with Mrs. Lincoln and party on board was also 
proceeding down the river. 

Reaching City Point at i p.m. Commodore Radford there went 
on board the flagship to visit Admiral Porter, after which the 
Phlox continued her way down the river and at 11 p.m. went 
into dock at Norfolk. Here they lay until the morning of the 
loth, coaling ship, and at 7.30 a.m. of that date steamed down 
towards Fortress Monroe and came to anchor in the Roads. 






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THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON 311 

" On Saturday evening, April 8th, the President left City Point 
in the River Queen with the Bat in company, and proceeded down 
the river, arriving at Washington on Sunday night, and finding 
there the news awaiting him that Lee had surrendered." 

" On the 9th of April, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Vir- 
ginia, General Lee met General Grant, and surrendered all that 
was left of the once invincible army of Northern Virginia. The 
Union soldiers treated their former enemies like brothers, divid- 
ing their rations with them, and for the first time in weeks the 
gaunt, famishing boys in gray learned what it was to eat a full 
meal of wholesome food. Grant gave generous terms to Lee, not 
even asking for his sword. On April 26th General Johnston sur- 
rendered to General Sherman on the same terms that Lee had 

received. Before the close of May all the scattered forces of 
the Confederacy had submitted, and the war for the Union was 



over." 



On April 12 th, Commodore Radford was placed in temporary 
command of the North Atlantic Squadron. 

Moving constantly up and down the river, the Phlox cast off 
from Aiken's Landing at 6 a.m. on April i6th, and as she pro- 
ceeded down the stream, Commodore Radford, standing on the 
quarter-deck, received at 10 a.m. from a passing steamer, news 
of the assassination of President Lincoln. 

Unwilling to believe that so great a catastrophe had actually 
occurred, the Commodore asked that the message be repeated, 
when a rough-looking fellow who was leaning lazily over the rail- 
ing of the steamer, put both hands to his mouth in trumpet fashion 
and roared: "Lincoln's gone up." 

Commodore Radford always affirmed that, " Had he had a pistol 
at hand he would certainly have shot that man." 

The following order issued April i6th, 1865, w^s received by the 
Commander of the North Atlantic Squadron: 



312 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

'' To prevent the escape of the assassin who killed the President 
and attempted the life of the Secretary of state, search every ves- 
sel that arrives down the bay. Permit no vessel to go to sea with- 
out such search, and arrest and send to Washington any suspicious 
persons. Gideon Welles." 

In a letter from his half-brother, Mr. Jefferson Clark, dated 
" St. Louis, Aprl. 9th/65," we read in part: 

" Dear Brother, 

" I have waited patiently for a long time for an answer to my 
last, but supposed that your entire time was occupied in the man- 
agement of your Ironsides; but now that you have shed those 
sides I thought you might be induced to answer this. Sue (Mrs. 
J. K. Clark) hears from your better half occasionally, for surely, 
if it depended on you alone we would scarcely know how the 
family in New Jersey was getting along. . , . 

'' I was highly gratified to see that you were honorably men- 
tioned by the Admiral, and highly decorated by the reporters in 
the attack on Fort Fisher; and that you were able to accomplish 
that which Gen. Butler had pronounced to be impracticable. . . . 
I see there was not a man hurt on the Ironsides. This is about 
the only fight I watched with interest, and when I saw that the 
Ironsides was the first to open the ball I trembled with fear lest 
further down I should read that she had been the first by a ball 
to be opened! But am glad that you came off unscathed and 
filled with GLORY. . . . We don't have any excitement of that 
kind out here. On the dry sod my ship is the plow to whose 
handle every man has to come, for in these times of conventions 
and war servants are not to be had for love or money. Sue's girls 
have left her, and my man says there are not greenbacks enough in 
the State of Missouri to make him get up the carriage today. 

'^ Your ever affectionate Bro. J. K. C." 



THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON 313 

On April 28th, 1865, Commodore Radford received the following 
order: '' You are hereby appointed to command the North Atlantic 
Squadron, and will hoist your flag as Acting Rear Admiral. 

" Very resply, 
" Gideon Welles." 
*'A. Rear Adml. 

" Wm. Radford." 

On May 15th, 1865, Acting Rear Admiral Radford therefore 
transferred his flag from the Phlox to the Malvern, which re- 
mained his flagship during the period of his command. 

A letter from Senator King has already been given, and the 
following from Admiral Radford's cousin, George Wythe Munford, 
shows the sequel to the matter mentioned therein. 

"Richmond, Sept. i7th/65. 
"' Dear William, 

" I received last night your kind letter of the 14th instant, & 
am just as much obliged to you as if you had obtained my par- 
don for me. I had received your former letter saying you had 
written to Mr. Preston King on the subject, but after waiting for 
some time without hearing that my papers were advanced at all, 
I took it into my head that a personal application would succeed, 
and so without introduction or letters from any one I proceeded 
direct to Washington, introduced myself to Mr. Seward, the Secre- 
tary of State, told him who I was, what offices I had filled in 
Virginia, & asked him to obtain for me an audience with the 
President, which, though a total stranger, he did, & I had a 
private interview with the President for half an hour, & came 
off with the pardon in my possession, having been treated re- 
spectfully and kindly by both. This was very important for 
me, for my property had been libeled & I could not sell or 



314 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

make any arrangements for a future support, & I was 
fast eating up all that remained of a once comfortable in- 
come. 

" I have now succeeded in selling my house & lot here for 
$20,000, & have leased for four years one of the most beautiful 
farms & handsomest buildings in all Virginia. It is located on 
the North River, in the County of Gloucester, near its mouth, 
where it empties into Mobjack Bay. It is a farm formerly owned 
by Mr. Prosser Tabb, in a beautiful & delightful neighborhood. 
In your various peregrinations along the Virginia Coast you may 
have seen it. It is a place called ' Elmington,' not far from Tod- 
bury. . . . You will be compelled from old associations & 
friendships to come & see it, & me & mine. And we shall 
be truly delighted if you will bring your good wife along, & stay 
a good while. There are fish, oysters & crabs enough to give 
you a bountiful repast, if we cannot find anything else. I shall 
have a small supply too of old whisky. The house has twenty odd 
rooms in it, so there will be room enough to spare. My family 
will move down between the tenth of October and first of Novem- 
ber. So you see in my old age I am going to try a farmer's life. 
I shall find it necessary to learn enough of a sailor's life to mxan- 
age a small sail boat, merely for fishing, & little pleasure ex- 
cursions for self and the girls. By the way, where can I purchase 
a neat little sail-boat for four persons, & what will it cost? The 
Government has plenty of old wagons & horses for sale here, 
have they any old boats, that are not very old, at Old Point? 
My wife & daughters are pleased at the prospect of going to the 
country to live, & I desire to make it a pleasure to them. My 
own taste has always impelled me to desire a farmer's life. I am 
sick of politics & of public positions." (He held that of Secre- 
tary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, before the war.) " All I 
crave now is the calm of retirement ; but I am going to ' Hang up 



THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON 315 

the fiddle & the bow, & Take up the shovel & the hoe,' . . . 
' Poor old Ned is going where the good niggers go.' 

'' My wife & all my big & little children are staying with 
my son Thorn, at his place in Bedford County, & seem to be 
enjoying themselves very much there. . . . Thorn is an applicant 
for pardon, & will find it necessary to go on to Washington in a 
short time. Having been a Colonel commanding a Cavalry Regi- 
ment during the whole war & having received the appointment 
as Brigadier-General just before its termination, I fear he will 
have more difficulty than I had. 

^' Should you be in Washington & can give him a lift I know 
you will do it. 

" God bless you & preserve you in health & happiness is 
sincere prayer of 

" Your Affect, cousin, 
" Admiral Wm. Radford, " George W. Munford." 

" U. S. Flagship Malvern, 
" Fortress Monroe." 

An order dated, "Navy Department, Washington, Sept. 25th, 
1865," reads: " On the reporting of your relief. Commodore 
Joseph Lanman, on the loth of Oct. next, you will regard your- 
self as detached from the command of the Atlantic Squadron, and 
you will proceed to Washington, D. C, by the 13th of October 
next, and report to Commodore J. B. Montgomery, on that day, 
for the command of the Navy Yard, Washington. 

" Respectfully, 

" G. Welles, 

" Secretary of the Navy." 
*' Acting Rear Admiral 

"W^m. Radford, 
" Comdg. Atlantic Squadron." 



3i6 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Amongst letters from different officers expressive of regret at Ad- 
miral Radford's leaving the North Atlantic Squadron, I insert the 
following: 

" U. S. S. New Hampshire, 

" Port Royal, Oct. ist./65. 
" My dear Sir, 

" I have written many unpleasant letters, and copied some, but 
few have caused me more regret than the present. I had hoped 
you would be here as long as I was. If this new command is your 
desire, I am glad you have it, but the loss is to the regret of many 
and to none more than 

" Yours truly, 

" R. L. Law." 

(Lieut. Commander, Comd'g.) 
" R. Admiral Wm. Radford." 



CHAPTER XX 
THE WASHINGTON NAVY YARD 

Reporting on October 13th, 1865, for the command of the 
Washington Navy Yard, Commodore Radford was there joined a 
few weeks later by his family. 

An article published in a Washington paper at that time reads 
in part: " Commodore Radford brings to his new command the 
reputation of an efficient, dignified officer, who understands well 
the character, intelligence and value of our American mechanics, 
with many of whom he will in some degree have daily intercourse. 

" We are gratified to notice the favorable auspices under which 
Commodore R. enters upon his new duties. The new and spacious 
buildings, which will prove so beneficial to the station, are nearly 
completed; the extension to the immense copper-rolling mill is 
progressing. Improvements to every part of the premises are 
perceptible, and surely for excellence of arrangement, general 
utility and comfort . . . the Washington Navy Yard has no equal 
in this or any other country." 

Then follows a list of names of master workmen, concluding 
with the words: " There are at present about twelve hundred men 
employed in the Navy Yard; they represent many of the States of 
the Union and are considered here, with very few exceptions as 
A. No. I." 

Despite this apparently flourishing state of affairs Commodore 
Radford writes to Rear Admiral Paulding on December 19th, 
1865: "How I would like to have a few days quiet and rest, 

317 



3i8 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

where none would be applying for places, and all children and 
mothers would have plenty, without insisting upon my employ- 
ing their fathers and husbands when I have no employment to 
give. . . . 

" We are going on pretty much as when you left. Mary and 
I miss you very much. Capt. Meade was in my office yester- 
day and said you had the refusal of the Naval Asylum. 

" We expect Minnie and her grandparents." (My sister was 
coming from boarding school for the Christmas holidays.) ^' I 
should be pleased were it in my power to serve you in any way, 
consequently you may safely trust any little messages to any 
big men, and I will promise to deliver them safely." 

Another letter of February 19th, 1866, says: " There is a bill 
before the lower house of Congress which they say will pass that 
body. It is to abolish admirals on the active list in time of 
peace, that is to say, no more admirals are to be made than those 
already holding commissions, and when they die they do not 
create a vacancy. It also takes in some of the volunteer officers on 
the regular list. It is supposed by many that the pay will be 
slightly increased. . . . 

" Admiral Smith still keeps his health, I am glad to say, and 
one eye open for the interest of the Government. Fox, you know, 
leaves the Navy Dept." (Gustavus Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary 
of the Navy), "and it is said Faxon takes his place. I have no 
doubt but that such will be the arrangement ..." 

In still another letter from the same to the same, dated March 
8th, 1866, we read, " Going to the Dept. some four days since I 
stopped in the State Dept. and found they knew nothing of our, 
or my papers relative to the compliment tendered by the King of 
Italy." (This matter had been lying by for a period of two 
years.) " Now the Decoration of the Order of Sts. Maurizio & 
Lazzaro may be a slight one, but as it is the only visible compli- 



THE WASHINGTON NAVY YARD 319 

ment that has been offered me during the war, I made a copy of 
the originals and sent them to the State Dept. with the request 
that the proper steps might be taken with Congress, etc. But as 
the Order is an equestrian one, perhaps Congress might think that 
they would have to purchase me a pair of spurs, and consequently 
regret it unless I promised to purchase the decoration for the 
boots myself. However, you know now what I have done, and 
should you wish to obtain the same honors you will have to send 
your papers to the Secretary of State. . . . 

" There is no naval news and nothing being done for the Navy 
just now either in the way of promotion or increased pay. The 
veto seems to have stopped everything just now except speech- 
making. ..." 

From the same to the same: 

"Washington, Mar. i6th/66. 

" I received your long and agreeable letter two days since and 
also the enclosed communication for Mr. Seward, which I en- 
closed immediately to Mr. Hunter, Chief Clerk State Dept. and 
received a reply saying he would immediately put your papers in 
the same channel in which mine have been placed, and I suppose 
you will soon have the permission to accept the spurs offered by 
the King of Italy. I am very glad you have concluded to take 
the Asylum, because I think it the most desirable situation in the 
Navy in time of peace, and you worked hard enough during the 
war to have a quiet place now. ..." 

The following resolution was passed by Congress, and ap- 
proved, April 13th, 1866: 

" Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives, etc., 
etc. 

" That the assent of Congress be, and the same is hereby, 
given to Commodore William Radford, of the Navy of the United 



320 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

States, to accept the decoration of the Equestrian Order of Saint 
Maurice, bestowed upon him by the King of Italy, as a reward 
for the assistance rendered by him to the Italian frigate Re 
d'ltalia, when she got ashore near Long Branch. 

"Department of State, Washington, April i6th, 1866." 

" A true copy, 

" U. Hunter, Chief Clerk." 

I do not know for what reason Congress omitted the name of 
St. Lazarus, who, according to my father, appeared " peculiarly 
fitted to be the patron saint of a Naval officer." 

After the passage of this bill there was some delay about the 
presentation of the decoration, and, in a letter of July i8th, 1866, 
Commodore Radford writes to Aamiral Paulding: " I received 
your kind letter of the 15th inst. this morning, and as the ther- 
mometer has come down to 94° in my office, from 100°, where it 
has been for several days, I must thank you now for writing me 
during the * heated term.' " 

Then, after some amusing remarks concerning the non-reception 
of the order, the letter continues: " This is enough about our 
Italian business — but I could not help being glad when I saw the 
Austrians were defeated. I have always had a little spite against 
them. Congress will leave in a few days for a cooler clime. . . . " 

On July 25th, 1866, Commodore Radford was promoted to Rear 
Admiral, and in August he received the following letter, which of 
course was a command: 

"Washington, 24th, Aug., 1866. 
" My dear Admiral, 

" The President desires me to invite yourself and Mrs. Radford 
to join his party in the proposed excursion to Chicago, which 
will leave Washington on Tuesday next. 



THE WASHINGTON NAVY YARD 321 

" Please inform me if you can make it convenient to join us. 
Admiral and Mrs. Farragut will be of the party. 

^' Very Respectfully, 

" Gideon Welles." 
" R. Admiral Wm. Radford." 

President Johnson being at that time at variance with Con- 
gress as to the conditions upon which the late seceding States 
should be allowed to return to the Union, vetoed bill after bill only 
to have Congress pass them over his veto. In August, 1866, the 
President attended by members of his cabinet and a few invited 
guests, made a tour through some of the Northern and Western 
States, denouncing the action of Congress as rebellious and 
appealing to the people to support him. 

A letter from Admiral Paulding dated, " Naval Asylum, Phila- 
delphia, Nov. 2nd/66," reads: 

" I have waited a long time to hear from you and have won- 
dered why you did not write, but at last know you went off on 
an excursion, and when I heard you had got to making speeches — 
having had some experience of that kind — I was quite in 
despair ... I feared from the position and the party I had 
little chance of being remembered. We are very comfortable 
here. The old gentlemen give but little trouble; some of them 
have an infirmity and we occasionally have to put them in the cells 
when they are noisy. . . . 

" I wish you would tell me if you have yet received your knight- 
hood? Be pleased to present me to dear Mrs. Radford, to dear 
Misses M. and S. and the boys, and I send my salutations to 
' Ironsides,' whose name was so nobly won that I trust the occa- 
sion and the gallant gentleman who fought the ship will never be 
forgotten. ..." 

The cause of the delay in the sending of the Italian dec- 



322 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

orations is explained in Admiral Radford's answer to this 
letter. 

He writes on November 28th, 1866: "I have received my 
decoration, and Cantagalli, Charge d'Affaires and Minister ad 
interim, informed me that he would send yours immediately. He 
would have sent it at the same time he sent mine, but having been 
considerably * ruffled ' by the poet Longfellow he was rather shy of 
sending any more decorations until application had been made 
for them, only informing the individual that such an honor was in 
store and ready to be given when an expression of willingness to 
receive was forthcoming." 

(Longfellow sent the King of Italy a handsome copy of his 
works, and the King in return thanked him by sending a decora- 
tion, which he had the bad taste to refuse on the ground that the 
King was a Catholic, and he, Longfellow, a Protestant and Re- 
publican.) 

" Mrs. Radford has translated the commission and laws of 
the Order, and is delighted to find one of the clauses prohibits a 
second marriage after having become a member of the order. 

" We are getting along very much after last year's style except 
that my gardener has been taken away. 

" Uncle Jo " (Rear Admiral Jos. Smith, Chief of Yards and 
Docks from May 24th, 1846, to April 31st, 1869), "is getting 
up new regulations for yards. I sent him up the old book of orders 
which has been used in the yard for many 3^ears, that, with the 
blue book, I think will occupy his spare time for many months." 

On December 12th, 1866, Admiral Paulding writes: "Yester- 
day a handsome young fellow filling the office of Italian Consul 
drove to the asylum with a package to my address that he had 
been instructed to deliver in my hands. This proved to be the 
* veritable commission and decoration ' of Sts. Maurice and 
Lazaro. 



THE WASHINGTON NAVY YARD 323 

" It is quite as neat an affair as I looked for, and as much as 
the occasion seems to call for, and being entirely indebted to you 
for its reception, if it were really of less value, I am bound again 
to thank you most heartily for your kind and friendly interest in 
this and all else where your highly valued friendship could be 
made apparent. ... I wish, in the absence of pressing duties, 
you would tell me something about your agreeable summer's 
pastime; the excursion you made, with any prominent incidents 
on the way. You have been so reticent on this subject that I fear 
it did not interest you as much as your friends could have desired. 
I sometimes throw out a hint to my friend Uncle Jo that I should 
like to know what he thinks of public affairs, but the most I can 
get out of him is that he ^ keeps his ship on an even keel/ 

" Be pleased to present me kindly to my esteemed friend Mrs. 
Radford, to Minnie and the rest of the dear children." 

A terrible blow befell my father when, on December i6th, 1866, 
the New Ironsides, at anchor off League Island, suddenly sank 
at her moorings. Whether this was an accident or the result of 
foul play was never strictly ascertained, but my father took the 
matter almost as greatly to heart as he could have done had some 
mishap befallen a member of his family. 

Here is one more letter of those written by Admiral Radford 
while at the Washington Na\y Yard to Admiral Paulding. The 
date is January 14th, 1867. " I should have written you long since 
and congratulated you upon the reception of that ' veritable com- 
mission ' from his Majesty the King of Italy, but for the illness of 
my chief clerk, and I am now afraid he will never be well again, 
having had a paralysis. . . . You speak of my not writing about 
the Chicago, or Western trip. I thought the papers had lied 
enough about that ' Circle ' to have satisfied the entire Country 
individually and collectively. ' Uncle Jo ' is too sharp ever to be 



324 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

caught expressing himself on paper . . . had he done so he 
would not now be the Chief of a Bureau, I take it. 

" The Herald thinks next Congress will impeach the President. 

"I don't think so; though we are living still in troublesome 
times, and I don't think much of politicians. It would take a 
better prophet than your friend to say what they would or would 
not do! 

'' We are getting on very much as when you were here. I have 
hired a man to look out for my garden, but feel very much the 
loss of the experienced one who had been employed by the Govern- 
ment for many years or will feel it next summer if here. 

" Mrs. Radford joins me in love to you and yours." 

In order to shovv^ that the cordial and affectionate relations 
existing between my father and his cousin G. W. Munford re- 
mained ever unchanged by the war as well as because they are 
t5^ical of that period, the following letters are given: 

'' Elmington, Gloucester, Va. 
" March ist/67. 
" Dear William, 

^' It gives me pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your kind 
letter of the 19th ultimo, because it proves to me that you have 
still your old friendly feelings & the remembrance of old times 
and kindred. I can never forget the happy days we spent to- 
gether in former years, both at my mother's" (Sarah Radford) 
'' and at Uncle William's " (William Radford II) '' & the many 
scenes of pleasantry we passed at the latter 's, when you would be 
surrounded by the girls who were then so gay & cheerful, and 
who used to take such pleasure in cheering, or chairiitg you up, 
as they called it. I can hardly realize the fact of the many years 
that have passed since that time, & of the changes that have 
taken place in the family circles, & in friendly groups, & 



THE WASHINGTON NA\^ YARD 325 

above all in the political world. I have become a rusticated old 
farmer, toiling in my old age at plow & hoe, & you an Admiral 
in the Navy of a mighty nation! Notwithstanding all these 
things my heart clings to old friends, & none would receive a 
warmer welcome than would you & your wife in my hom.e. 

" When I first moved here & found the necessity I should 
have for a sailing boat, I wrote to you in unreserved friendship, 
inquiring if you knew where I could purchase a sail-boat, not 
intending to hint for you to send me one as a present. I could 
not get a suitable one at the time, & had to put up with a 
common canoe or dugout. This has answered my purpose as a 
boat for oystering & fishing, & with the aid of an old freedman 
I have been furnished a full supply of the best oysters I have 
ever seen. In your kindness, however, you say that you have a 
very nice boat, oars, sails, etc., which you wish to send me. I 
make you a very profound bow & return you my sincere thanks. 
I only regret the trouble it may occasion you in getting it here, 
but we are not in such a secluded spot as you imagine. In former 
days, before the war, a regular steamer came up the river (North 
River) with the United States mail to Todbury three times a week, 
& passed immediately by the place to a landing not three 
quarters of a mile off. The farms having been all seriously dam- 
aged & but little crops made yet, the boat has been discon- 
tinued, but, as the farmers are regaining their industry & their 
farms are improving, we shall have crops to send to market & 
the steamer will probably resume her trips. If you will look on 
your charts of the Coast Survey in the counties of Gloucester & 
Mathews, you will find that the Severn, Ware, North and East 
Rivers form Mob jack Bay, & almost all the farms of note on 
these rivers are laid down. I am living on North River near 
its mouth, about three miles from Mobjack Bay. For the present 
our outlet by steamer is near the mouth of East River. The 



326 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

steamer Eoliis is running tri-weekly from Norfolk, on Tuesdays, 
Thursdays & Saturdays — touches in coming & going at Old 
Point and lands passengers for this place, or freight, at Hicks 
wharf on East River in Mathews County. Captain McCarrick is 
her commander, & will bring anything for me & have it landed 
at that wharf. If you will direct the boat to his care in Norfolk I 
shall get it, I doubt not. If you will let me know at any time 
when you & your wife will pay us a visit I will send a carriage 
to meet you & bring you here where I promise you a hearty 
welcome. My wife sends best regards to your wife. With best 
wishes for your health & happiness I am your sincere friend 
and cousin, 

'' George W. Munford." 

Another letter from the same to the same, dated, '' April 
i7th/67," reads: "Your kind letter of the 8th instant & hand- 
some present have been received. The letter, on account of its 
evident friendly feeling, as much prized as the present, & the 
latter as much valued as possible. The boat has been admired by 
all who have seen it, & my children have made all the fuss over 
it imaginable. I have had her duly christened, & looking to the 
feelings of our youth again revived, I have named her ' The Light 
of Other Days.' Happy & better times for the South & 
for old Virginia will come around yet, & then I hope, as slavery 
is dead forever, there will be no bone of contention between the 
two sections. 

"I am a poor sailor myself & know but little of managing 
a sail-boat, & fear if I should attempt it without aid, I should 
' be spilled,' as you suggest, but some of my neighbors are very 
skillful & with their assistance we shall be able to manage her 
for fishing and pleasure excursions in good weather." 



CHAPTER XXI 

GLIMPSES OF SOCIAL LIFE AT THE WASHINGTON 

YARD 

Very happy indeed were those days at the Washington Navy 
Yard. Although at the time of our arrival there I was but in my 
eleventh year, I perhaps saw more of the world than usually falls 
to the lot of a girl of that age. The first winter in Washington 
ended, my sister left her New York boarding school, and together 
we attended Madame Burr's school in Washington, beside having 
Mile. Victorine Prudhomme, who is remembered with affection by 
many in Washington, as our governess at home. 

General Zeilin, who had been stationed at the Brooklyn Marine 
Barracks when we were at the Navy Yard there, was now Com- 
mandant of the Marine Corps, and his two daughters were of 
the same ages as my sister and myself. I hardly think I should 
be overstating the fact in saying that there were few, if any, fes- 
tivities given at either the Navy Yard or Marine Headquarters 
at which we were not, despite our ages, all four present. 

Excursions were at that time frequently organized to the Ameri- 
can Mecca — Mount Vernon — in honor of distinguished guests, of 
whom there was a constant succession, and on many of these we 
were allowed to go. Furthermore, President Johnson's daughters, 
Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Stover, arranged many parties for their 
children, to go down the river in the Ascutney and later in the Tal- 
lapoosa; and in these we young people were invariably included, as 
we were in the childrens' parties given at the White House. Secre- 

Z27 



328 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

tary and Mrs. Welles also gave numerous river parties, inviting al- 
ways hosts of young people, friends of their son Edgar, and among 
these my sister and Miss Zeilin were always numbered. (It is 
disclosing no great secret to say that it was invariably my mother 
who provided the luncheons for these river parties.) 

Among the many foreign guests who were entertained during 
that time. Queen Emma and her Hawaiian suite appear to have 
especially impressed me, although far greater interest was attached 
to the visit of Madame Ristori, who, with a numerous company 
lunched at our house before continuing their way down the river. 

My father's fa\ orite relaxation during the autumn days at the 
Washington Yard was the shooting on the Anacostia, or eastern 
branch of the Potomac River. For this purpose he had had built 
a small flat-bottomed skiff with one high seat, like a piano stool, 
from whence he shot, while an experienced boatman rowed or 
shoved the small craft through the long river grasses. I remem- 
ber his returning from one of those early morning excursions 
bringing a round hundred of reed birds and ortolan with him. 
Today reed birds and ortolan have vanished along with the flats 
and river grasses from the Potomac, and while the sanitary condi- 
tion of the city has, of course, improved, the old picturesqueness 
of the river is no more. 

During the winter of 1867-68, my sister made her "official" 
entrance into society, or, to use the accepted phrase, " came out " ; 
and I, although but thirteen at the time, was present at the various 
home entertainments given in honor of that event. I can see be- 
fore me now the long old-fashioned parlors in which was the 
dancing, with the many lovely young girls in their tulle and tarla- 
tan dresses, who are today — or numbers of them at least — 
mothers, and even grandmothers of the brave boys who have 
lately been fighting on the battlefields of France. 

As I remember there were some rarely lovely women and 



GLIMPSES OF SOCIAL LIFE 329 

young girls in Washington during those years; not meaning in 
any way however disparagement to those of later times. There 
was General Butler's daughter, Mrs. Ames, who, v/hen she ap- 
peared with her father, always evoked the comment: " Beauty 
and the Beast! " Chief Justice Chase's daughter, Mrs. Sprague, 
who was hostess in her father's home, was of course a well-known 
beauty. Many others there were beside these, but as it would be 
impossible to enum.erate them all, we shall let the list stand at this. 

Great excitement was caused in the spring of 1868 by the at- 
tempt of Congress to impeach President Johnson. In fact, all 
serious conversation of the time appeared to revolve about and 
revert to that eventuality. My father was among those who were 
most deeply and sincerely gratified by the Senate's final failure to 
sustain the articles of impeachment. 

Although we had passed three very happy years and m.ore at the 
Washington Navy Yard we yet could not restrain an outburst of 
joyous excitement when, on December 19th, 1868, came the order: 

" On the reporting of your relief, Rear Admiral C. H. Poor, 
on the 20th January next, you will regard yourself detached from 
the command of the Navy Yard, Washington, D. C, and will pro- 
ceed to New York and report to Rear Admiral Godon, and when 
your flagship the Franklin is in all respects ready for sea, you are 
authorized to hoist your flag as Commander of the European 
Squadron. 

" Respectfully, 
" G. Welles, 
" Secretary of the Navy," 
" Rear Admiral Wm. Radford, 

" Commdt. Navy Yard, Washington, D. C." 

The question of our crossing in a French liner and meeting 
my father somewhere abroad was being seriously discussed when 



330 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

he received a letter from Secretary Welles enclosing the follo'v?-- 
ing, which of course completely altered all premeditated plans. 

'' Excutive Mansion, Washington, D. C. 
''Jan. 8th, 1869. 
" Will the Honorable the Secretary of the Navy please permit 
Admiral Radford's family to accompany him to Europe in the 
Franklin? 

" Andrew Johnson." 

And underneath this was written: 

''Navy Department, 9th January, 1869. 
" In accordance with the above Rear Admiral Radford has per- 
mission to take his family v/ith him to Europe in the Franklin. 

" G. Welles, 
" Secretary of the Navy." 

Merely to show in some slight degree the feelings which William 
Radford inspired in his friends or in those who served under his 
command, I insert the following extracts from two letters received 
by him while awaiting the date of sailing in New York. 

The first is from his chief clerk, of whose grave illness he had 
spoken in a letter to Admiral Paulding. The man, contrary to my 
father's expectations, had recovered, and in a letter dated, 
"Washington, Jan. 28th/69," he writes: "... When I parted 
with you on Saturday last my heart was too full to tell you how 
grateful I felt to you for your kindness, and particularly for your 
forbearance with me under the circumstances in which disease 
had placed me last winter. I hardly think any one else would have 
held on to me under the circumstances, and now that we have 
parted, possibly forever, I can only say that the prayers of my 



GLIMPSES OF SOCL^ LIFE 331 

wife and myself will always follow you in your journeyings in 
a foreign land. 

" With feelings of deep gratitude and respect, I remain your ever 
humble and obedient servant, 

Wm. A. Marks." 

The other letter explains itself. 

*' Clinton Ave., Brooklyn, Feb. 7th/69. 
" My dear Admiral, 

" Upon your departure from New York I desire to thank you 
for the many acts of kindness for which I and my friends are 
indebted to you during your Administration in the Brooklyn 
Navy Yard. Permit me, my dear Admiral, to assure you that I 
speak the sentiments of ever}^ gentleman of this city who has had 
the pleasure of knowing you, when I say that you have the best 
wishes of all for the welfare of yourself and the noble ship under 
your command. And permit me to add that it was with feelings 
of pride and pleasure that your Brooklyn friends read the an- 
nouncement that Admiral Wm. Radford was and is to command 
the Franklin. ... I wish you and your family a pleasant voyage 
and a happy return home. 

" Truly Your Friend, 

" Walter D. C. Boggs." 

On January 28th the Franklin left the Brooklyn Navy Yard 
and anchored off the Battery, preparatory to taking on coal and 
ammunition. 

Captain C. R. P. Rodgers, who, in his letter of August 14th, 
1863, had expressed a wish to serve under Admiral Radford's 
orders, was Captain of the ship, and J. C. Howell, Fleet Captain. 

Amidst a shower of flowers, bonbons, and kisses we bade our 
many friends and relatives adieu. On going aboard I was pre- 
sented by the coxswain of my father's barge with the dearest little 



332 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

curly-haired white dog profusely bedecked with pink ribbons and 
answering to the name of " Rosie." A law at that time forbade 
the sailors from having pets on shipboard, but by transferring 
'' Rosie " to the Admiral's cabin the safety of the little creature 
was assured. 

A report to the Secretary of the Navy, dated February nth, 
1869, closes with the words: "We crossed the Bar at 6.30 a.m. 
this day, and I shall proceed direct to Lisbon, Portugal. 

" I am, Sir, Your obdt. Servant, 
" Wm. Radford, 
" Rear Admiral Comdg. European Squadron." 

So my first acquaintance with Europe was to be made through 
that city where, in after years, I was to spend some happy months 
as the wife of a Russian diplomatist. 



CHAPTER XXII 
THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 

The port of Lisbon is with justice rated as the third most beau- 
tiful in the world. The first view, as seen from the mouth of 
the Tagus, of this lovely city of multi-colored houses, and fine 
squares lined with green trees, is a fascinating mixture of mina- 
rets and pointed roofs, of flat fagades broken by lines of shutter- 
less windows and the Oriental exuberance of Moorish architecture. 
Raised upon seven hills, Lisbon, half modern, half of ancient date, 
but always wholly Southern, rests in the grand amphitheater 
which they form for her, and past which the Tagus, dotted with 
the shipping of the world, flows seaward. 

To us, after seventeen days of stormy passage, it appeared 
indeed a veritable paradise, and never was sight more welcome 
than that of the swarming bumboats laden with luscious fruit 
by which the Franklin was immediately surrounded as she came 
to anchor in the middle of the river, just opposite the great 
marble landing steps of the port. 

From Lisbon, March 3rd, 1869, Rear Admiral Radford writes 
to the Secretary of the Navy: 

" I have the honor to report to the Department the arrival of 
the Franklin at this place on the 28th ult., seventeen days from 
New York. On the fifteenth we encountered a very heavy gale 
from the southward, which lasted until the twenty-second. 

" I found, on my arrival, all the vessels composing the squadron 
under my command {Ticonderoga, Richmond, Swatara, Frolic, 

333 



334 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

and Guard) lying at anchor in the harbor — the Ticonderoga, bear- 
ing the broad pennant of Commodore Pennock, having arrived 
only a few hours before the Franklin." 

Although I have crossed the ocean many times since then, never 
have I seen such waves as those during the gale mentioned in 
the foregoing despatch. For an entire week my mother, sister and 
I were unable to leave our beds simply because of the impos- 
sibility of standing. At the end of that time my sister and I 
were allowed to go up on deck for a few moments. The fury of 
the gale had, of course, greatly abated, yet, as we sat huddled to- 
gether under the companion ladder watching the lofty masts 
as with each roll of the ship they appeared about to bury them- 
selves in those onrushing mountainous masses of water, we could 
but wonder what it had been like when the storm was at its 
height? It was truly a wonderful sight. Our stay there was, 
however, a short one for the deck was all awash, and but 
for the lifelines we should not have dared to risk crossing it. In 
fact, even during fine weather, we spent little time on deck, as 
my father was strictly of the opinion that a " naval ship was no 
place for women," and, on that day at least, we might possibly 
have subscribed to his way of thinking. 

For six delightful weeks the Franklin lay at Lisbon, where she 
was undergoing certain repairs, and where every day there were 
things of interest to do or to behold. Visitors came in great 
numbers aboard the flagship, foremost among whom was, of 
course, King Louis, whose wife, Queen Maria Pia, was a daugh- 
ter of King Victor Emmanuel II, and aunt of the present King 
of Italy. He who was later to reign as Carlos I was at that time 
a pretty, golden-haired boy of six. 

In regard to King Louis' visit Rear Admiral Radford writes 
from Cadiz, April i6th, 1869: 

" I have the honor to report to the Department that, during 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 335 

the stay of the Franklin at Lisbon, the ship was visited by the 
King of Portugal, who was received with a Royal Salute, and 
manned yards. Also by Ministers and Representatives of the 
various governments resident at that place, who were received with 
appropriate honors." 

The report continues: " I found at Lisbon on my arrival the 
English Channel Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral 
Sir Thos. M. C. Symonds, K.C.B., consisting of eighteen power- 
ful ironclad ships, some of them, I am informed, having a speed 
of fourteen (14) knots under steam alone. One of them, while 
we were there, was sent to sea to the assistance of a large timber- 
laden water-logged ship, and towed her into port against very 
strong winds. 

" On the occasion of the visit of the King of Portugal to ships 
of the English Channel Squadron, this ship manned yards, and 
saluted — the compliment was returned by them when the King 
visited this ship." 

Well do I remember that thrilling moment! All those great 
English ironclads, and the vessels of our own squadron, firing 
at once as King Louis came aboard the Franklin! 

A letter from Mr. James E. Harvey, then United States Minis- 
ter to Portugal, recalls an interesting occasion. 

" Legation of the United States, 

« Dear Admiral, " ^''''°"' ^^'"^ "*' ^^^^' 

" The Nuncio is unwell and therefore he will not go aboard 
tomorrow. 

" The Duke and Duchess of Montpensier, the Princesses Amelia 
and Christine, the Prince Ferdinand, with one lady of honor and 
one Aide-de-Camp, accompanied by the Spanish Minister and the 
First and Second Secretaries of that Legation, propose to visit 
you tomorrow at one o'clock and to embark from the packet 



336 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

stairs at that hour, if there should be no impediment of weather. 
I shall be there to put my services at their disposition. 

" I venture to suggest that the status of these Royal Personages 
has not been disturbed by the revolution in Spain as manifested by 
the Cortes now sitting. They were rudely exiled by the Queen, 
who was herself soon after expelled the country, and directly 
for that act.^ 

" Without any knowledge of the Naval technicalities on such 
subjects, it appears to me that the Spanish flag, which represents 
their only nationality, should be hoisted during the salute and 
customary honors. The mere presence of the Spanish Minister 
would render that compliment indispensable on any ship-of-war 
of another nation than ours, and the omission of that accepted 
usage upon the occasion of visits made by Diplomatic representa- 
tives, excites remark with those who do not understand its reason, 
or rather, the regulation which is said to prescribe that exception. 

" You will be better able to determine than I am whether the 

barge will be sufficient to accommodate the number of visitors 

that has been named. ,, ,, ^. , 

very bmcerely, 

" James E. Harvey." 

The Duke and Duchess of Montpensier were gratified by their 
reception on the Franklin, as was shown by their giving a dinner 
some few days later in my father's honor, to which he and my 
mother, as also my sister and myself were invited. That I was 
included in the list of guests was due to my being of the same 
age as the youngest daughter of the family — the Princess Mer- 
cedes — she who later became the first, and deeply beloved wife 
of King Alfonso XII of Spain, son of Queen Isabella. The 
eldest daughter of the House of Montpensier was the Princess 
Isabella, who, in 1864, had been married in England to the Count 

1 The Duchess of Montpensier was sister to Queen Isabella of Spain. 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 337 

of Paris, and whose daughter became Queen Amelie of Portugal. 

About that dinner — during which I was placed beside the 
Princes Mercedes — there was much of stateliness and formality, 
which, after all, was not without a certain charm; and, once it 
was over, the Duke invited my father and the other gentlemen of 
the party to his smoking-room, while the ladies sat and listened 
as the two older Princesses with one lady-in-waiting and a gentle- 
man of their Court played eight-handed pieces on two pianos. 

During our entire stay at Lisbon the Duke and Duchess of 
Montpensier were unremitting in their attentions, even placing 
their opera box at the disposition of my father and mother for 
any night or nights they might care to use it. Meyerbeer's opera 
" L'Africaine," in which the Portuguese national hero, Vasco da 
Gama, so largely figures, was then being given, and we came to 
know it well. 

When, many years later, in the month of March, 1895, ^ was 
presented, as the wife of the First Secretary of the Russian Lega- 
tion, to Queen Amelie, I mentioned having had the honor of meet- 
ing Her ]Majesty's august grandparents in Lisbon in former years. 
The Queen turned abruptly with a questioning look in her eyes to 
King Carlos, who, contrary to the usual custom, was present on 
that occasion, and he, waving one hand in a casual fashion, ex- 
claimed: '^ Oh yes! That was when they couldn't go to Spain." 

Despite the facTthat the Portuguese Court was considered one 
of the most rigid in point of etiquette, that audience was marked 
by a very great degree of cordiality, mainly because of the fact — 
but thereby hangs a tale, and I must ask pardon for a slight 
digression! 

Mr. de Meissner and I had but just arrived from Berne, 
Switzerland, where, among our most intimate friends, had been 
the Conseiller of the French Embassy and his wife — Monsieur 
and Madame Desprez. Madame Desprez was a daughter of Gen, 



SsS OLD NAVAL DAYS 

George B. McClellan, and Queen Amelie's father, the Count of 
Paris, was, as every student of American history must know, 
Aide-de-Camp to General McClellan during our Civil War. The 
Count of Paris and General McClellan had remained throughout 
the years on terms of closest intimacy; the distinguished French- 
man visiting his former Chief from time to time here in the 
United States, and General McClellan and his family visiting at 
the home of the Count of Paris in England. 

Because of thib friendship of long standing I had been asked 
by Madame Desprez to be the bearer of many messages to the 
Queen, and had in turn to answer many questions, even those per- 
taining to the state of health of a certain pet Skye terrier, all of 
which appeared greatly to interest Her Majesty. Realizing sud- 
denly, however, that others were awaiting their audiences the 
Queen rose somewhat hastily, and I, possibly a bit startled, 
after one ceremonious curtsey, deliberately turned my back upon 
royalty and started for the door. P^ecovering myself when I had 
made but a few steps, I turned swiftly and swept downward in 
the lowest possible curtsey, but not without noting the amused 
expression upon the faces both of the King and Queen, and as, 
upon reaching the door, I repeated this ceremony for the third 
time, we were all frankly laughing. Fortunate indeed was it for 
me that the stately Duchesse de Palmella, the Royal Mistress of 
Ceremonies, was not present at the time! 

So that was my first meeting vdth this gracious and heroic 
Queen, who, later, was to fight her husband's assassins with no 
weapon other than a bunch of roses at her command! 

Among old friends met by my father and mother in Lisbon 
in the spring of 1869, were the Marquis and Marquise de Mon- 
tliolon, who having represented the French Imperial Government 
of that day in Washington, had recently been transferred to Lis- 
bon. Their beautiful garden, abloom at that time with roses and 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 339 

flowers of every description, was assuredly a thing to be remem- 
bered. But for roses commend me to that ideally lovely spot 
Cintra, to which, while the Franklin lay at Lisbon, we went, with 
a numerous party of officers from the ship, for a stay of several 
days. The camellias — of which there are said to be ten thousand 
bushes in the wonderful sloping gardens of Peiia Castle — were 
then all in full bloom; but even that could not equal the sight of 
the garden of Sir Francis Cook's villa, ^' Monserrate," where the 
roses, pink, white, red and yellow, trained to cover great forest 
trees, were indeed a sight wonderful to behold. 

Visiting that place again in the spring of 1895 ^^^ some mem- 
bers of the Diplomatic Corps from Lisbon, the wife of the British 
Secretary, Mrs. Conway Thornton, said to me: " Suppose we call 
on Lady Cook. She is an American — perhaps you know her. 
Her name was Tennie Claflin." 

Although I had not had the pleasure of knowing Miss Claflin 
we decided to make the visit; but were met with the announce- 
ment that: "Her ladyship was taking a bath," and so had to 
content ourselves with strolling about her wonderful garden, 
which is, or was in former days, always open to visitors. 

Before leaving the subject of Lisbon I should like to recall 
the very gracious and charming manner in which the then Dowager 
Queen, Maria Pia, spoke to me in after years of my father's 
visit, saying how greatly both she and King Louis had enjoyed 
meeting him. Upon the outbreak of the Revolution in Portugal 
Queen Maria Pia returned to her native land, and is, I believe, 
still living in Italy. 

Again, from Cadiz, Spain, Rear Admiral Radford writes on 
April 17th, 1869: " I have the honor to report to the Department 
the arrival of this ship at this port, on the 9th inst., fifty-two 
hours from Lisbon — also the disposition of the vessels composing 
the squadron under my command, as follows, viz.: 



340 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" The U. S. S. Richmond, Captain J. R. M. Mullany, arrived 
at Cartagena, Spain, on the 24th March, ult. having touched at 
Gibraltar, and was to leave on the 29th for Athens, Greece. 

" The U. S. S. Kenosha, Captain Wm. H. Macomb, sailed from 
Lisbon on 4th inst. with orders to visit Cadiz, Malaga, Cartagena, 
Barcelona, and such other ports of Spain as the draft of the 
ship would permit her to enter with safety, where the presence 
of an American man-of-war might be needed. She arrived at this 
place on the 6th inst. 

" It having been reported that serious disturbances were antici- 
pated at Malaga on the 21st inst. in consequence of a conscrip- 
tion to be made there, Captain Macomb was directed to proceed 
to that place, and, should there be no necessity for the presence 
of his ship after the 21st, to proceed to Gibraltar for further 
instructions. 

" The U. S. store ship Gtiard sailed from Lisbon on the 5th 
inst. with orders to Commander Adams to proceed to Gibraltar, 
Palermo, Naples, Civita-Vecchia and Spezzia; and so time her 
stay in each port as to reach Spezzia by the last week in May ; to 
remain in that port until further orders. 

" The U. S. S Swatara, having completed her repairs, sailed 
from this port this day, with orders to Commander Blake to 
proceed to Philadelphia, and, on her arrival, to report by letter, to 
the Hon. Secretary of the Navy. 

" The health of the crew of this ship is good. 

" I am. Sir, 

" Very Respectfully, 
" Your Obdt. Servant, 
" Wm. Radford, 

" Rear Admiral U, S. N." 
"Honorable Adolphe E. Borie, 
" Secretary of the Navy." 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 341 

In a letter from Mrs. Radford to her mother in Morristovvn, 
dated, "Cadiz, April nth, 1869," is the following: 

" We reached here on Friday morning, having left Lisbon on 
Wednesday morning. Last evening we went on shore just in time 
for the vesper service in the Cathedral. It is a grand and beau- 
tiful building, and it was one hundred and twenty years from the 
time it was begun till it was finished. In it are some of Murillo's 
beautiful paintings, which we could not see at all on account of 
the darkness, and I think they can only be seen at noon on bright 
days. The appearance of the city is very different from that of 
Lisbon, and not so picturesque, as it lies very low and flat, on a 
sand bar; however, once in the city it is quite pretty and very 
clean. There is a beautiful promenade between the houses and 
the bank, or shore, called the Alameda, where the band plays, and 
all the beauties of Cadiz come out to walk on Sunday afternoon, 
and one other day in the week. They all wear the black lace 
\eils over their hair instead of bonnets, and in our long walk yes- 
terday through the city we saw neither a boimet nor a carriage 
or horse. The streets are so narrow that it would be impos- 
sible for two carriages to pass, so that they have to go down 
certain streets and go up others. The fruit and vegetable markets 
are excellent. Delightful strawberries in perfection now, bananas, 
oranges, artichokes, cauliflowers, tomatoes, etc., etc. On the other 
hand no cream, and no good butter. Instead of cream they put 
orange juice and sugar over the strawberries. On Tuesday or 
Wednesday we are going up to Seville for the day." 

Here again the courtesy of the Montpensiers followed my 
father and mother, as they were invited by the Duke and Duchess 
to visit their beautiful home in Seville, from which, at that time, 
they themselves were debarred by their exile. 

" There is to be a great fair the latter part of the week," 
continues the letter, "which they say is well worth seeing, but 



342 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

the country is in such a disturbed state that the Admiral is 
afraid to have us go up at that time." (My mother always spoke 
of my father as " the Admiral.") " We shall leave here about 
next Saturday for Gibraltar, and I hope there to find a good many 
letters, as it is now several weeks since I have had a letter . . . 
and I am getting anxious for news. ... I hope you still look 
forward to the prospect of coming over. . . . Every day it seems 
to me more painful to be separated from you, and I feel more 
anxious for you to decide to come." (In the many years of her 
married life it was my mother's first long separation from her 
parents.) " I am very anxious to hear what Mrs. Kearny is going 
to do, and when she is coming out. It would be such a nice oppor- 
tunity for you to come with her. The Swatara goes home from 
here in a few days and the children are preparing a budget of 
letters to send you. They say the thermometer here does not 
vary more than ten degrees between winter and summer; and 
that there are a good many Americans who come here for the 
climate. As I got rather tired out visiting at Lisbon I am quite 
in hopes no one will know of my being on board until the vessel 
has left. 

'' The Governor General has just come on board to make a visit 
to the Admiral, and after that we are going on shore to have a 
view of the Cathedral by daylight, and to return in time for 
dinner. We are invited to a party tonight (Sunday) from 8 till 
II. Of course we don't go, but tomorrow we go to lunch on the 
Kenosha, one of our own vessels. Give a great deal of love to . . . 
and remember me affectionately to all my old friends in Morris- 
town. I always think of them all particularly on Sundays, when 
I have a great longing for the services of the dear old church 
there." 

The Franklin left Cadiz at 6 a.m., arriving at Gibraltar at 
3 P.M. on the 19th of April, where she remained until the 28th. 




REAR ADMIRAL WILLIAM RADFORD 

From a Portrait Made While in Command of the 
European Squadron, 18(39-70 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 343 

During that time the English Governor, Sir Richard Ayrie (I am 
not certain as to the spelling of his name) and his wife gave sev- 
eral entertainments in honor of the Commander-in-Chief of the 
American Fleet — a dinner, garden party, etc., etc. One thing that 
interested us greatly while there was the drilling of the Highland 
regiment — (their costume was then a rarer sight to behold than it 
is today) — and particularly enjoyable was the visit to the fortifica- 
tions in the great rock. For this, donkeys were provided for the 
party, and as they were decidedly diminutive in size, and many 
of the officers who accompanied us unquestionably long of limb, 
the occasion, despite its deep interest, was also one of consider- 
able merriment. 

All those who have made that excursion know of the tunnel 
halfway up the rock, which is said to pass under the Straits of 
Gibraltar to a spot in distant Africa, but I have never as yet heard 
of any one who had actually explored it. It is, however, con- 
fidently affirmed that the monkeys — which are imdoubtedly to be 
seen about this stronghold — came there by way of that pas- 
sage. 

From Gibraltar the Franklin crossed over to Algiers where we 
spent ten wonderful days. That Algeria is now a French Province 
was due to a dispute concerning a loan made by the Dey to the 
Directory in 1797. This dispute ended in insults by the Dey to 
France, with the result that in 1830 the latter power sent a fleet 
of a hundred ships and five hundred transports across the Medi- 
terranean, and seized the capital. France had intended only to 
punish an insolent Dey, but attacks being made upon her from 
time to time, which she felt she must crush, she was led on, step 
by step, until she had everywhere established her power. There 
was an intermittent struggle of fourteen years with a native 
leader, Abd-el-Kader, who, in 1847, w^s forced to surrender, and 
France had gained what is still her most important colony. 



344 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

At the time of the FrankllrCs visit the Governor of Algeria 
was Marshal IMcIVIahon, Duke of Magenta, who, after maldng an 
official visit to the flagship, extended many courtesies to the 
Admiral in command. Vividly do I remember a garden party given 
at the Governor's residence on the heights beyond the town. The 
garden alone, with its wealth of tropical vegetation, was a sight 
well worthy of rem.embrance, and enhanced as it was by the 
gracious hospitality there displayed, and the kaleidoscopic picture 
of pretty women and gorgeously uniformed men, it produced an 
ineffaceable impression on the mind. 

Thanks to the courtesy of the French officials we were shown 
everything that was to be seen both in the city of Algiers and its 
environs, going even to a performance, or exhibition, of dancing 
dervishes, which was arranged especially in our honor. This was 
given at night in the open court of one of the houses, and it 
was anything but a pleasant sight to behold those frenzied crea- 
tures eating — amid wild contortions — great pieces of spiked cactus 
leaves, and biting writhing scorpions in half. My mother, sister, 
and I were very thankful they had not insisted upon our going 
up into the gallery with the women, but had, in compliance with 
our protest, consented to our remaining, with my father and the 
officers of the party, in the court below. 

A visit made by my mother, sister, and myself to the harem of 
one of the Moslem princes of the city was not wanting in interest, 
or in amusement either, for that matter. It had been arranged 
that the prince was to meet us at a certain place in the city, 
whitlier we went escorted by my father, his Flag-Lieutenant, Mr. 
Folger, his Aide-de-Camp, Ensign W. McCarthy Little, and my 
oldest brother, a boy of thirteen. As we walked tlirough the nar- 
row streets following my father and our Moorish host, we won- 
dered how the latter would rid himself of so large a company, but, 
as we reached the entrance to his rather stately dwelling he turned, 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 345 

and bowing with exquisite Oriental politeness, said: " Gentlemen, 
you will find an excellent cafe just across the street." 

Although we who entered that Moslem home saw only some 
three or four unintelligent looking and certainly far from beautiful 
women, we yet could not but be touched by their eager desire to 
show us every politeness, and we even swallowed without a grimace 
some nauseatingly sweet paste made of orange flowers offered us 
by a young girl, while the ruler of the household — who was seated 
upon a slightly raised central divan — beamed complacently down 
upon his guests, for whom chairs had been provided, and on his 
wives who sat upon low stools about him. 

During their farewell visit to the Governor- General and his wife, 
the MacMahons presented my father and mother with their photo- 
graphs, and had many pleasant things to say about the Franklin 
and her officers. Little did any one then think that in four 
short years from that time Marshal MacMahon would be already 
the second President of the newly formed French Republic (1873- 
79), as M. Thiers had resigned after three years' tenure of the 
ofiice. 

It had been my father's intention upon leaving Algiers to stop 
at Port Mahon, and we had been looking forward with much 
interest to this visit. Hardly however were we out of sight of land 
before we encountered so severe a gale that all hope of making the 
Island of Minorca had to be abandoned, and the Franklin pro- 
ceeded directly to Toulon. There we — the family — left the ship 
and went immediately to Paris, meeting in that gay metropolis 
the wives and families of many of the officers of the flagship, as 
well as of other vessels of the squadron. After spending a few 
weeks in that enchanting city — where Napoleon III and the 
Empress Eugenie, all unconscious of the storm that was to burst 
upon them the succeeding year, still reigned — my mother moved 
to Versailles, and there we settled ourselves for the summer. 



346 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

A letter from Rear Admiral Radford to Admiral Porter, dated, 
" Toulon, France, May i2th/69," reads: 

'' I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th 
March, ultimo, which was received yesterday, and to assure you it 
will give me great pleasure to have Mr. Grimes " (Senator from 
Iowa, and Chairman of the Naval Committee) " and his travel- 
ing companions as my messmates. 

" There is no one who has a greater appreciation of his valuable 
services to our country and the Navy, or a greater respect for 
his character as a man than myself. 

" I have large and comfortable quarters on board the Franklin, 
and should it be my good fortune to receive him on board, I feel 
perfectly satisfied that his time will be made to pass pleasantly. 

" I shall direct the commanding officers of the other vessels of 
the European Squadron to carry out the wishes of the Department 
and yourself in case he should fall in with either of tliem, and am 
confident he will receive every attention. 

" With many thanks for your kind wishes, believe me, Admiral, 

" Sincerely yours, 
" Wm. Radford, 
" Rear Almiral, 

^' Comdg. European Squadron." 
" Vice Admiral D. D. Porter, U. S. N., 
" Navy Department, Washington, D. C. 

Another report dated, " Toulon, June 17th," relates, in part, to 
an order which, as may be readily imagined, met with little 
popularity in the service. It reads: 

" I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the Depart- 
ment's letters of 20th April ult, in reference to strict economy 
with regard to tlie use of coal ; to have all cruising done under sail 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 347 

alone; and steam not to be used except under the most pressing 
circumstances." 

Leaving Toulon on June 19th, the Franklin after touching ac 
Ville Franche and Genoa, proceeded to Naples, from where Rear 
Admiral Radford writes on July 27th, acknowledging receipt of 
the Department's letter " enclosing ... a communication . . . 
in relation to the system of running submarine torpedoes; and 
desiring that I myself should witness the experiments to take place 
at Fiume, Austria, between May and September, and give my 
opinion of the merits of the invention." 

Another communication, of August 7th, to the Hon. George M. 
Robeson, Secretary of the Navy, says: ^' Wind permitting I shall 
sail this day for Trieste, and will personally attend the torpedo 
experiments at Fiume." 

A letter from Robert Whitehead to Rear Admiral Radford 
states: •' I shall be ready on Tuesday, the 26th inst. to commence 
the experiments for you with the torpedoes." 

A despatch from Trieste, Austria, August 30th, reads in part: 
" I had been ordered by the Department to visit Fiume to witness 
some experiments with a submarine torpedo. At Naples I was in- 
formed by Vice Admiral A. Milne, British Navy, that he had sent 
two of his gunnery officers to Fiume, to examine and report upon 
the torpedo, and that they had written him the experiments, which 
were drawing to a close, were novel and highly interesting, 

" I was detained at Naples longer than I had anticipated by 
Paymaster Bradford's being relieved by Paymaster Gulick, which 
necessarily consumed some days, in making the transfer of 
stores, money, etc. 

" On the 7th inst. I sailed from Naples through the Straits of 
Messina. Arriving off the entrance of the Adriatic ... for three 
days I beat off Cape Santa Maria di Leuca, making but little to 
windward — at times under double reefed topsails. On the evening 



348 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

of the third day I found that if I wished to reach Trieste in time 
for the experiments it would be necessary to use steam. 

" At I P.M. on the 14th inst. I gave orders to lower the pro- 
peller and get up steam. ... At 5 p.m. furled all sails and com- 
menced steaming with about one half steam power. ..." 

Older officers remember how severe was the law at that time 
against using coal on naval vessels, and we have seen the order 
Rear Admiral Radford had received to that effect when at 
Toulon. This fortunately, is a difficulty with which the Navy of 
today has no longer to contend. 

Of the experiments at Fiume, Rear Admiral Radford reports 
in part: " I am satisfied that Mr. Whitehead's torpedo is a great 
stride beyond anything of the kind I have ever seen or heard of. 

" The Austrian Government, having purchased the right to use 
this torpedo, is now building vessels in which to carry them, to be 
used at sea; and a Fleet having vessels in it constructed to use 
these torpedoes would, in my judgment, have great advantage 
over those without them ; and I feel it my duty earnestly to recom- 
mend their adoption in our service, unless something better, that I 
know not of, can be found. 

" I have some drawings of a torpedo vessel, reconstructed by 
Mr. Whitehead, which I will forward to the Department, as soon 
as they can be completed." 

Here we see, in its early stages of development, what is today 
so formidable an instrument of warfare. 

A letter of introduction to the Admiral then commanding the 
Maritime Department of Venice reads as follows: 

,,.^ ^ , ^ ^ "Washington, 20 Janvier, i860, 

" Mon tres cher frere, h , j » y, 

" L'Amiral Radford Commandant en Chef I'Escadre Americaine 

de la Mediterannee visitera Venise. Tu connaitras chez lui un 

marin distingue qui a rendu des grands services a son Pays, et 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 349 

un excellent amis des Italiens. Tu seras heureux de faire sa con- 
naissance et de lui servir de guide dans sa visite a notre arsenal 
de Venise. L'Amiral Radford conduit sa famille en Europe. Je 
me flatte que tu leur offriras ta meilleure amitie. Adieu, 

" ton frere affectionne, 

"M. Cerruti." 

("Washington, 20 January, 1869, 
" My very dear Brother, 

" Admiral Radford, Commander-in-Chief of the American Medi- 
terranean Squadron, will visit Venice. You will find in him a 
distinguished sailor who has rendered great services to his coun- 
try, and an excellent friend of the Italians. You will be happy 
to make his acquaintance and to show him through our arsenal at 
Venice. Admiral Radford is taking his family with him to Eu- 
rope. I flatter myself that you will offer them every hospitality. 
Adieu, 

" Your affectionate brother, 

" M. Cerruti.") 

The writer of the above was the representative of the Italian 
government then in Washington. 

Leaving Trieste, the Franklin, after a fourteen days' run, 
reached Tunis, Africa, and from there proceeded on her wa}^ to 
Marseilles, where she arrived September 19th. 

Among unofficial letters of my father's, I find the following 
of which I had never known, and which, for some reason, evidently 
did not meet with favorable consideration. 

., _ A J . , " Mediterranean, Sept. i8th, 1869. 

Dear Admiral, 

" I write to solicit a favor from you, though I suppose, as you 

are so much annoyed in that way, such letters are not very 

welcome. 



350 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

'^ There is a young gentleman, a nephew of mine, Mr. S. W. 
Kearny, now living on board this ship as my clerk, who wishes 
to enter the U. S. Marine Corps. He is well educated, of correct 
habits and just twenty-one years of age. If you could say a good 
word for him to the Hon. Sec. of the Navy, I would be very 
thankful. 

" His father, the late Genl. S. W. Kearny, U. S. Army, lost 
his life by disease contracted in the Mexican War, and had many 
army friends. I think President Grant would be favorable to his 
appointment, if nominated by the Hon. Secretary. 

" If there is any chance of his getting the appointment, I will 
write to the President, but if not I trust you will tell me. 

" Mr. Kearny's applicaion is forwarded this day to the depart- 
ment. 

" With my kindest regards to Mrs. Porter, believe me, dear 
Admiral, 

" Yours very truly, 
" Wm. Radford, 

" Rear Admiral, U. S. N." 
" Vice Admiral D. D. Porter, U. S. Navy, 
" Navy Department, Washington, D. C." 

Upon the Franklin's arrival at Marseilles my father left the 
ship, and joined us in Versailles, where we had passed a delight- 
ful summer. Going from there to Switzerland we spent a pleasant 
month on the borders of Lake Geneva ; and then, leaving my two 
older brothers at school in Lausanne, my mother, sister, and I 
with the two little boys and their colored nurse, journeyed south- 
ward with my father, putting up for the month of November at 
the Hotel Cannebiere at Marseilles. 

A letter from Rear Admiral Radford, dated " Marseilles, Nov. 
14th, 1869," reads: ''I have the honor to inform the Depart- 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 351 

ment that I received last evening a telegram dated 13 th inst. 
from B. F. Stevens, Esq., U. S. Despatch Agent, London, viz.: 
* Secretary Robeson instructs me by cable to send you this 
despatch — Send a vessel, the Richmoiid preferred, to England 
to carry the remains of the late Geo. Peabody to the United 
States.' A second letter, of November 26th, states: 

"... the Richmond left Malaga on the loth inst. for 
Barcelona. On the 19th inst. the Plymouth arrived at this place, 
from a somewhat protracted cruise along the coasts of Syria and 
Africa. 

" On the 20th, not having heard from Captain Mullany {Rich- 
mond), and Captain Macomb volunteering to proceed at once to 
Portsmouth and take the place of the Richmond, (notwithstand- 
ing his ship required caulking), I directed him to proceed with 
despatch to Portsmouth, and communicate, on his arrival with 
His Excellency Mr. Motley, to carry out the wishes of the De- 
partment. 

" The PlymoutJi was delayed on the 2 ist instant by a heavy 
gale blowing, and the refusal of the pilot to take the ship out of 
the harbor while it lasted. I then telegraphed to Mr. Motley to 
know if the Plymouth arriving on the ist of December, would be 
in time to accompany the Monarch" (The English ship that was 
to convey the remains of Mr. Peabody to the United States.) 
'• On the morning of the 23rd, receiving a reply that the English 
ship would wait for her, she sailed at 1 1 a.m.'* 

On December nth, a letter from Ville Franche reports "the 
arrival of the Flagship Franklin at this port, on the loth inst. 
seven (7) days from Marseilles." 

On November 7th the Juniata (Commander Stephen B. Luce), 
had joined the squadron at Marseilles, and in December the en- 
tire fleet rendezvoused in the beautiful harbor of Ville Franche. 

This was but a pleasant drive from Nice, where, in one of the 



352 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

hotels, my father had taken an apartment. Foreseeing that the 
winter would be a very gay one, my mother planned sending me to 
a convent school, but thanks to my father's earnest protestations 
that plan was not carried into effect. 

That winter of 1869-70 — during which, all unsuspected, the 
war clouds were gathering over France — was as bright and ani- 
mated as in former days all winters were in that gay metropolis; 
and, with the exception of dinners and official balls, there were 
few of tlie festivities at which I was not present. The presence 
of the United States squadron certainly added vastly to the 
gayety of the season. There were weekly afternoon dances on the 
Franklin, besides numerous races arranged between the gigs and 
barges of the different ships of the squadron. It was indeed an 
exciting moment when the Franklin's twelve-oared barge carried 
off the prize from all competitors! 

The American officers and their families were greatly feted in 
Nice. Capt. C. R. P. Rodgers, with his courtly manners — (he 
was called the "Chesterfield" of the Navy) — was always popu- 
lar; as was also Capt. J. C. Howell, whose bluff humor rarely 
failed to entertain his hearers. I well remember one day, in cross- 
ing the ocean, my father sending an orderly to say to Captain 
Howell that he would like to speak to him immediately about a 
certain matter, and the orderly returning reporting with a per- 
fectly grave face, " Captain Howell says as he'll be down in 
ten minutes, Sir; he's just dying (dyeing,) sir! " Needless to add 
that Captain Howell's hair was of ebon hue! 

Many were the distinguished visitors we met aboard the 
Franklin. I say we, because, although my morning hours were 
devoted to studies with an excellent French governess, I was 
allowed to go to any entertainments given in the afternoons, and 
was, of course, always present at the several evening dances given 
by my father and mother in our own spacious apartment. 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 353 

Thus it happened that I was on board the Franklin one after- 
noon toward the end of December, 1869, when the then Crown 
Prince Frederick of Prussia and his wife the Crown Princess Vic- 
toria visited the American flagship. Very different would have 
been the history of the world today had he, who in 1888 reigned 
for so short a period (three months) as Emperor of Germany, but 
lived. 

Both the Imperial visitors were simple and unaffected in the 
extreme, and that they were pleasantly impressed by their some- 
what lengthy visit aboard the Franklin was evinced by the fol- 
lowing communications received by my father some few years 
later. 

" Department of State, Washington. 

" Mr. Cadwalader has great pleasure in forwarding to Admiral 
Radford a note received today from Mr. Davis, at Berlin, which 
he sends as the best means of conveying the message it contains. 

" Thursday, 22nd, July, 1875." 

The note in question follows: 

"American Legation, Berlin, July 3rd, 1875. 
(Unofficial) 
" Dear Mr. Cadwalader, 

" At the late dinner given to Admiral Worden and his Staff 
by the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess of Prussia, at 
Potsdam, a pleasant incident occurred which I take the liberty 
to communicate to you unofficially. 

" In the course of conversation the Crown Prince spoke to me 
of the pleasure he had formerly had in visiting the flagship 
Franklin in the Mediterranean when Admiral Radford was in 
command of the Fleet (I think he said it was in 1869), and 
begged me to convey his remembrances to that officer. It hardly 



354 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

seems worth while to write the Secretary of State officially about 
this purely personal matter. I therefore venture to ask you to be 
so good as to inform Admiral Radford of this pleasant message. 
" Thanking you in advance for doing so, I am, My dear Mr. 
Cadwalader, 

" Very truly yours, 

" Bancroft Davis.'' 
'' The Honorable 

" John L. Cadwalader." 

The Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, was, as will be remem- 
bered, the daughter of Queen Victoria and Princess Royal of 
England. She was a woman of strong and determined will and 
feared in no wise to defy Bismarck. 

During the winter of 1887-88, the Crown Prince Frederick, at- 
tacked by cancer of the throat, was at St. Remo, where, in Janu- 
ary, the operation of tracheotomy was performed. Shortly after 
this Bismarck sent his promising pupil — author of the late world 
cataclysm — for the purpose of inducing the Crown Prince to 
renounce his claims to the throne in favor of his son. The Em- 
peror William I was then failing rapidly, and it was generally 
known he had but a short time to live. William, his grandson, 
with whom delicacy of feeling was not a salient trait, set out 
blithely upon his journey, but his mother — a true daughter of 
Queen Victoria — forewarned of his coming, met him at the 
entrance of their villa and peremptorily ordered him to depart. 
He could but return and report the failure of his mission. 

On March 9th Kaiser William I passed away, and Victoria, 
with indomitable courage, brought Frederick back to Berlin, where 
he reigned for ninety-nine days, breathing his last at Potsdam on 
June 15th, 1888. This San Remo incident was widely discussed at 
the time in Berne, Switzerland, where my husband was then 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 355 

stationed, and every one was filled with indignation at the heart- 
lessness of the proceeding. 

iVnother incident that occurred during the early years of the 
reign of William II was the following: Being then in Berne, Mr. 
de Meissner and I were dining one evening in the house of 
one of the members of the German Diplomatic Corps, when the 
toast, " Der Tag," was given. This, I must say, was only 
responded to by the Germans themselves. As we were walking 
home from that dinner (in the Swiss capital few, except the wives 
of the Ambassadors, drove) W. said to me, " Do you know what 
the Germans mean by the toast, ' Der Tag 7 Of course I did 
not, and he added, " It's to the day they lick England! " At 
which I, of course, laughed scornfully. And that was just about 
thirty years ago! 

Asking pardon for this somewhat lengthy digression we will 
return again to the good ship Franklin. 

On February 15 th, the flagship left Ville Franche for Genoa, my 
father taking us with him for that short journey. It was indeed 
a trip never to be forgotten. A perfect moonlight night — the 
ship sailing just close enough to the coast to command a view 
of the chain of hills — the blending of the Maritime Alps and 
the Apennines — and all about us the sea shimmering and sparkling 
with iridescent lights in what my father and all the other 
officers gathered with us on the quarter-deck declared to be 
the most brilliant phosphorescent display they had ever wit- 
nessed. 

From Genoa, where we spent Carnival week, we continued on to 
Spezzia, reaching there li. f.-c yrankiin on the 3rd of March; and 
there, a few days later, my mother, sister and I bade the good ship 
a final adieu. Accompanied by my father we went first to 
Florence, where, a few days after our arrival, he received the 
following letter from the U. S. Consul in Tunis: 



356 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" Consulate of the United States, Tunis, 
" March 12th, 1870. 
" Rear Admiral William Radford, 

" Commanding U. S. Naval Forces in the Mediterranean, 
" Admiral, 

'' A deplorable occurrence took place here on the 9th instant, the 
details of which you will find in a despatch to the Department of 
State, a copy of which I have the honor to enclose. 

" Since yesterday we have received such information as leads 
us to apprehend further and still graver trouble among this popu- 
lation and I have just been in communication with the French and 
English consuls-general, w^ho have decided to ask their admirals 
at Toulon and Malta to send a vessel here to afford assistance in 
case of necessity, or to be at hand to send to Malta or France 
for a larger force. 

" There is a serious fermentation among the natives who look 
upon the maniac as a martyred Saint, and they threaten vengeance 
on the Christians who had him dragged from the sanctuary by 
the janissary of a consulate and compelled the authorities to exe- 
cute him without trial. 

" It cannot be denied that the proceeding was very summary, 
and that if the excited foreign populace could have been pacified 
by any means short of immediate execution, it would have been 
wiser to have given the culprit the trial to which he was entitled by 
their laws as well as by our own. 

" However this may be, we are in the midst of a turbulent and 
fanatical population and it will require but a spark to produce a 
most disastrous explosion. 

" The massacres at Aleppo and Djedda are of too recent a date 
for us to forget that if an outbreak occurs and a war for religion 
is proclaimed, all the authorities here will be at once overwhelmed 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 357 

by an infuriated and bigoted people, who look upon death in 
such a cause as the most direct road to paradise, 

'' The city is patroled with troops and will probably remain 
quiet as long as they are not withdrawn. 
" I have the honor to be 

" Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, 

" G. H. Heap, 

" U. S. Consul." 

The accompanying report gives a vivid picture of the event 
herein referred to. With the same heading it reads: 
" Honorable Hamilton Fish, 

'^ Secretary of State. 
" Sir, 

" It is my painful duty to inform you of an occurrence which 
has created the greatest consternation in this community and 
which threatened and may still lead to serious consequences. 

" On the 9th instant at 2 p.m. a religious Mahometan fanatic, 
excited by the fumes of hasheesh, rushed through the streets 
brandishing a saber and proclaming: ' In the name of Allah, war 
against the unbelievers and death to all Christians.' He was a 
water carrier by trade and about 22 years of age. 

" He commenced his frightful mission on the edge of the foreign 
quarter and traversed it twice in different directions through the 
most crowded streets dealing wounds to all he met. Though a 
number of shots were fired at him by Europeans, he finally 
escaped unhurt into the Moorish quarter where he sought rest as 
well as sanctuary in the principal mosque. A janissary of the 
British consulate-general disregarding the sanctity of the asylum 
dragged him out into the street where he was seized and conveyed 
to prison. 



358 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" In the meanwhile the streets became filled with an excited 
populace, composed principally of Sicilians and Maltese crying 
for vengeance, who were with difficulty restrained by the consuls 
from proceeding to an indiscriminate massacre of the natives within 
their reach. 

'' The fanatic attacked a servant and another man within the 
gate of the American consulate and wounded both severely. One 
of my janissaries in attempting to seize him received a serious 
wound in his left hand which I fear he will lose. An instant after 
he cut an Italian lad across the face, a girl on the neck, — nearly 
severing the head from the body; killed an infant in its mother's 
arms, wounding the latter, and all this within the space of a 
minute. I then lost sight of him, but from the shrieks I heard I 
could judge of the destruction he was dealing. Altogether he has 
wounded, it is reported, eighty-two persons, of whom five have 
since died. In this number are several Mahometans in the serv- 
ice of Christians, the rest are Christians and Jews, the majority 
being women and children. 

" The whole town was soon in an uproar. The police, always 
inefficient, were quite paralyzed. The assassin passed in front of 
the principal police station in the European quarter, where there 
are always some twenty-five armed men, and although they 
saw him cutting people down, not one moved to arrest him. 

" A meeting of the consuls was at once called at the British 
consulate general, and it was decided to depute two of their 
number to the Bey to request him to come at once into the city 
with a sufficient force to restrain the native population, which 
fanatical desperadoes were exciting to put all Christians to death. 
The Charge d'Affaires of France and I were requested to fulfill 
this mission and we proceeded to the Bey's residence in the coun- 
try. H. H. was in bed but soon received us. He was much 
agitated and offered to send all his troops with as many members 





"' ■t)^ (gjlj. '.!.;' ■ — ■^"-— *""*~ 




THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 359 

of his government as we required, but declined showing himself 
in town, alleging that he feared it would but increase the excite- 
ment. Leaving the Bey, the French Charge d' Affaires returned 
to the city while I went to the Prime Minister's country seat 
to warn him of what was going on and request his immediate 
presence. He answered my appeal promptly and soon made his 
appearance in the principal square which was filled with a frantic 
crowd of Italians, Maltese, and Greeks. 

" Orders were immediately given to take the assassin from 
prison and to behead him, and in the course of a few hours 
tranquillity was restored. 

" The town has been put under martial law and patrols will be 
maintained for several days until after the approaching festival 
of Bairam. All the consulates are guarded with troops. 

" Today the consular corps waited on the Bey by appointment 
and an address was read thanking him and his officials for the 
manner in which our appeal had been responded to, and requesting 
that the police be reorganized so as to render it more efficient. 
The Bey promised to give the necessary orders to this effect. 

" At a meeting of the consuls yesterday it was voted to present 
to each of the two janissaries of the British and United States 
consulates a pair of pistols as a testimonial of their good con- 
duct, — and the British consul will ask his government to allow 
him to give his janissary the sum of 20 pounds. 

" I beg leave to recommend to the Department to present to 
the janissary of this consulate a sword, of the value of one hun- 
dred dollars — with a suitable inscription. His name is Mahomet 
Ben Ali. He has been several years in the service of this con- 
sulate, and has served it with intelligence and fidelity. Such a 
mark of the appreciation of the Government will have a very 
happy effect here. 

" A considerable amount has been subscribed for the sufferers. 



36o OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" I have just been called upon by Mr. Conti, under secretary 
of state, with a request from the Prime Minister to notify all 
persons under the protection of this consulate to keep within 
doors, or at any rate not to go outside the town as in consequence 
of the festival of Bairam the religious excitement among the 
Mahometan population might bring on a collision. 

" This precautionary measure is not unnecessary, as the ef- 
fervescence occasioned by this extraordinary and disastrous event 
is still great, and the Moors are buying up all the arms that are 
for sale. I must state however that in visiting my wounded 
janissary I have been obliged to traverse some of the remote 
Mahometan quarters, and have everywhere been treated with the 
usual respect. 

" I have the honor to be, 

" Very respectfully. Your obedient servant, 

" G. H. Heap, U. S. Consul." 

This matter having been settled by my father, by the sending 
of the U. S. S. Juniata to Tunis, we continued on our way to 
Rome, and thence, traveling northward, reached Lausanne, Swit- 
zerland, by the middle of April. There we were to spend the 
summer — the fatal summer of the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian 
War — and there, on April 19th, all unconscious of impending 
events, my father left us to rejoin his ship at Ville Franche. 

The following despatch of May 20th, 1870, from Malaga, Spain, 
shows that Rear Admiral Radford had no intention of being 
cheated out of that visit to Port Mahon. 

" I have the honor to report to the Department the arrival of 
the Flagship Franklm at this place on the 19th instant, twelve 
days from Ville Franche, France, stopping three days at Port 
Mahon." 

As the Franklin continued her way along the Spanish coast 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 361 

an incident occurred, at what may be called " A Port in Spain," 
that was certainly not devoid of humor. The U. S. consul ac- 
credited to the town was making his official call on board the 
flagship, when, as he was about to leave, the Commander of 
the squadron, somewhat mystified at noting a showy ornament 
worn by his visitor, inquired: "Is that a foreign decoration? " 

" That, Sir," replied the consul, striking his manly chest, " is 
a view of my native city, Chicago"; then, noting the Admiral's 
bewildered expression, he explained that, seeing every official 
abroad wore " some such thing," he had ordered the " trinket " 
made at home and sent out to him, and really found that " it 
answered every purpose." 

A report from " The Downs, England, July 7th," informs the 
Department of the " arrival of the Franklin at this anchorage on 
the 5th inst. seventeen days from Lisbon, Portugal." 

On the 8th, the Franklin reached Flushing, Holland, from where 
Rear Admiral Radford writes on July 15th, 1870, "I have the 
honor to acknowledge the receipt of the Department's letter of ist 
inst. directing me to return home in the Franklin, which ship is to 
be repaired, and will be relieved at New York of the command of 
the European Fleet." 

These orders were however modified by reason of the Euro- 
pean war, and Rear Admiral Radford was directed to " turn the 
Franklin over to Rear Admiral Glisson for his flagship," and to 
" return to the United States by packet." 

Before the carrying out of this order, however, there were sad 
days aboard the Franklin as is shown by the following report: 

" Flushing, Holland, Aug. 8th, 1870. 
" It is my unpleasant duty to report to the Department that an 
epidemic of variola of unusual severity has occurred on board 
this ship. The Franklin left Lisbon, under sail alone, on the 



362 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

1 8th June for this place, the officers and crew, live hundred and 
ninety-seven (597) all in good health. On the 27th, the eighth 
day out, one of the crew who had not been on shore at Lisbon, was 
admitted on the sick list with fever. On the second day after, it 
was discovered that he had variola. 

" He was then placed on the after part of the gun-deck, near an 
open gun port, with a canvas screen around his cot, and men who 
had had the smallpox appointed to wait upon him. All the 
officers and men were immediately vaccinated with fresh mat- 
ter obtained at Lisbon, being the third time during the 



cruise.'^ 



Despite the fact of their hurrying under steam to Deal, and of 
their putting the sick man ashore at the hospital there, another 
case appeared on July 17th; on the i8th seven more were taken 
ill, and on the 19th, there being sixteen additional cases, the 
ship was placed by the Health Authorities under strict quarantine. 
By Jul}^ 26th the total number had reached fifty-eight, including 
Master T. B. M. Mason, (later Rear Admiral Mason), and 
Midshipman G. B. Harber, both of whom recovered. 

On the 2nd of August the ship was released from quarantine 
although there were still twenty-five cases in the hospital ashore. 
Five men in all were lost at the hospital. It seemed rather a 
sad termination for what had been so pleasant a cruise. 

One report there is concerning that time which should surely 
be here included. 

"Flushing, Holland, Aug. 8th, 1870. 

" I feel it a pleasure, as well as my duty, to call the attention 
of the Department to the praiseworthy conduct of Surgeon 
Thomas J. Turner, U. S. Navy, attached to the U. S. S. Juniata. 

'' Hearing at Antwerp of the epidemic raging among our crew, 
he immediately volunteered his services to attend our sick; arriv- 
ing at this place on the 21st of July, ultimo, he has, since that 



THE EUROPEAN SQUADRON 363 

time, been unremitting in his attentions to the sick at the Hospital, 
and is still devoting himself to their care and comfort. 
" I have the honor to be, Sir, 

" Very Respectfully, Your obedient servt., 
Wm. Radford, 

" Rear Admiral, U. S. N." 
" Hon. George M. Robeson, 
" Secretary of the Navy." 

On August loth, Rear Admiral Radford informed the Depart- 
ment that he had that day " transferred the command of the 
U. S. European Squadron to Rear Admiral O. S. Glisson," and 
that he should return to the United States as soon as he could 
obtain a passage in one of the steamers. He furthermore added: 
" I have been informed that all the accommodations in each line 
are engaged for several weeks to come." 

This proved to be indeed the case, but during those days of 
waiting we were both witnesses of and participators in many 
scenes and events of deepest interest. 

List of officers of U. S. S. Franklin, ist rate, Flagship of European 
Squadron, 1869. 

Rear Admiral Wm. Radford. 

Captain C. R. P. Rodgers. 

Captain J. C. Howell (Fleet). 

Lieutenant Commanders : F. V. McNair, J. D. Marvin, A. R. McNair, 
F. S, Brown, G. W, Sumner, F. J. Higginson and Frank Wildes. 

Lieutenant, W. M. Folger. 

Ensigns, J. J. Hunker, and Wm. McC. Little. 

IMidshipmen : R. M. Thompson, C W. Chipp, A. Elliott, H. C. Stinson, 
W. M. Cowgill, T. J. Wood. 

Surgeon, Charles Martin. 

Passed Assistant Surgeon, H. P. Babcock. 

Assistant Surgeon, G. O. Allen. 

Paymaster, J. O. Bradford (Fleet). 

Chief Engineer, W. H. Shock (Fleet). 

First Assistant Engineers: Clark Fisher, W. J. Montgomery, and 
H. C. Beckwith. 

Second Assistant Engineers : W. L. Nicoll, W. L. Baillie, and C. J. 
Habighorst. 



364 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

Chaplain, G. W. Smith. 

Captain of Marines, L. L. Dawson, Brevet Major (Fleet). 

First Lieutenant of Marines, R. S. Collum. • 

Admiral's Secretary, Mr. E. Brown. 

Admiral's Clerk, S. W. Kearny. 

In 1870 the Lieutenant Commanders were: F. V. McNair (Executive 
Officers), J. D. Marvin, S. P. Gillett, F. J. Higginson, G. W. Sumner, 
W. M. Folger, Frank Wildes, and H. C. White. 

Masters: J. J. Hunker, and W. R. S. McKenzie. 

Ensigns : R. P. Rodgers, Lambert G. Palmer, and Theo. B. M. Mason. 

Midshipmen : Giles B. Harber, Wm. P. Potter, A. M. Thackera, John 
C. Wilson, Frank Birney, Arthur P. Nazro, William F. Driggs, John H. 
Moore, Emory H. Taunt, and Albert G. Berry. 

Surgeon, Charles Eversfield. 

Passed Assistant Surgeon, J. M. Flint. 

Assistant Surgeon, G. O. Allen. 

Paymaster, John S. Gulick. 

Chief Engineer, E. Fithian (Fleet). 

Second Lieutenant of Marines, H. G. Coffin. 

The other officers were as in 1869. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
PARIS IN AUGUST, 1870 

On July i5tJi, 1870, war credits were voted in Paris amid great 
excitement, and France entered into the valley of the shadow. 
The immediate cause of this was the falsification — or condensa- 
tion — by Bismarck of the famous " Ems despatch," making it 
so discourteous in tone that the French considered their Ambassa- 
dor, Benedetti, had been insulted. Technically, war was declared 
on July 19th. Only ten members of the Chamber, among whom 
were Thiers and Gambetta, voted against it. 

The first battle, resulting in a slight victory for the French, 
was fought on August 2nd, at Saarbrucken. 

At that time my sister and I were in Lausanne, where my two 
brothers, K. and R. were at school; while my mother, with the 
two younger boys, was at the Baths of Lavey, in the Valley of 
the Rhone. 

Letters filled with inquiries concerning my father's movements 
were pouring in from every side, one being from the widow of 
Captain Griffin, which, although written from Prussia but twelve 
days before the declaration of hostilities, evinced no suspicion 
of the actual state of affairs. 

" Kreuznach, Prussia, July 5th, 1870. 
" My dear Admiral, 

" Sunday's mail brought me a letter from Mary telling me 
that you were recalled home and that you would all return to the 
' land of the free and the home of the brave ' in August. I saw 

365 



366 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

by the newspapers that some one had sailed to take command of 
the Mediterranean Squadron, but knowing that your time was 
not yet up I did not even notice the officer's name, supposing 
it a mere newspaper story. 

" We shall stay a fortnight longer here, then go to Hombourg 
for three weeks, then to Ammergau to see the * Miracle Play,' 
which will bring us to Switzerland some time in August, but too 
late I fear to meet you anywhere. Every week brings me 
pleasant letters from home. Mother is now at Ursino, but the 
end of next week will go to Glenclyffe where Sister Julia " (Mrs. 
Hamilton Fish) **has already gone. I hope Mr. Fish will take 
at least a week's holiday this summer. Last summer he took none 
at all; he is much too honest to neglect his duties." (As Secretary 
of State.) 

"With the hope that if you return to the United States you 
may get just what duty you want, and also in the hope that we 
may soon meet, believe me. 

Yours Affectionately, 

" Christine K. Griffin." 

Extracts from letters from my grandfather from Morristown, 
N. J., dated, " July 19th, 1870," read: 

" My dear Daughter, 

*' Your first letter written from Lavey, I find is dated late in 
June. . . . Since the beginning of this terrible war between 
France and Prussia we have felt very anxious for your comfort as 
well as safety — knowing that on the Rhine the greatest struggle 
will take place between the contending parties." 

This letter was written on the very day on which a diet of 
the North German Confederation met, and unconditionally placed 
the military resources of the nation at the disposal of the (Prus- 
sian) government. 



PARIS IN AUGUST, 1870 367 

" We have learned," continues the letter, " from several good 
authorities that the Navy Department telegraphed by the Cable 
on July 6th, to Admiral Radford to bring home the Franklin. . . . 
We regret very much that the war in Europe breaks up all pos- 
sibility of leaving K. there for his education. ..." My brother 
also regretted this as he, in after years, said the school in Lausanne 
was the most thorough he had ever attended." 

Another letter from the same to the same, dated July 22 nd, 
says: 

" We regret that you appear to be in ignorance of the dreadful 
war that has broken out between France and Prussia. But as 
you are situated in Switzerland, acknowledged to be neutral ter- 
ritory, we hope you will experience no personal inconvenience, 
either where you are or on your way to embark for home. . . . 
As to the Franklin being ordered home to the United States, it is 
Admiral Porter who first reported it here by letter to Mrs. Mc- 
Kenzie (saying), the Franklin might be expected to reach America 
between the first and tenth of September." 

That this had been the first plan of the Department is shown 
by the following letter from Admiral Porter. 

" Navy Department, Washington, 
"July 6th, 1870. 
" My dear Admiral, 

" I have received your several letters and have arranged mat- 
ters, I hope, to suit you. I was not in Washington when the 
arrangement was made to change the Commanders of Fleets. I 
tried all I knew how to keep you out there as long as possible but 
did not succeed. If you conclude to come home in the ship it 
will not be necessary for Howell to come home unless he wants 
to, as you can give him permission to remain out until the ship 
returns to Europe. 



368 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

" The whole matter is left pretty much to your own discretion. 
Glisson can go out by steamer, and hoist his flag temporarily on 
board the Richmond, or live on shore at Nice, or any other place 
where he can conduct the operations of the fleet. 

" I am sorry to hear of the misfortune to your propeller, and 
the best thing will be for the Franklin to return home and be 
fitted with all the modern improvements. 

" Glisson is going out at once to relieve you, and you and he 
can talk things over and fix them pretty much to suit yourselves, 
as long as I am here ; when I go you can paddle your own canoe. 

" Give my regards to Rodgers and Howell. Tell Rodgers that 
it will depend pretty much on himself how long he stays here. 
God willing he shall not stay any longer than it will take to get 
the propeller fixed. 

" With best wishes I remain, 

" Yours very truly, 

" David D. Porter, 

'' V. A." 
" Rear Admiral William Radford, 
" Commdg. European Fleet." 

Turning over the command of the European Squadron to Rear 
Admiral Glisson on August loth, 1870, my father joined us at Lau- 
sanne, and two or three days later we left for Paris. No one but 
supposed at that time that the war would sweep immediately into 
Germany. The French cry, '' On to Berlin," bespoke an assured 
victory, and as our sympathies were entirely with France we de- 
parted v/ith light hearts for the French capital. Our party was 
assuredly a large one, as, beside my father and mother, four 
brothers, sister and self, and our faithful colored maid, my cousin 
Stephen Kearny was with us, and the number of our trunks doubt- 
less approximated that with which an American family of those 



PARIS IN AUGUST, 1870 369 

days usually traveled. However that may be, it is certain we 
were all highly amused, when, upon our arrival in Paris, one of the 
porters engaged in collecting our baggage, exclaimed, as he wiped 
the perspiration from his brow: " Mon Dieu, ce sont les Prus- 
siens! " 

The hotels in Paris being at that time filled to overflowing, we 
were fortunate indeed in finding a furnished apartment on the 
rue Galilee, near the intersection of what was then the " Avenue 
Josephine." At that intersection there then stood a beautiful 
statue of the Empress Josephine, which was later removed by the 
French Republican Government. As, one day during the autumn 
of 19 13, 1 was strolling through one of the smaller art galleries on 
the Champs Elysees, with a cousin of my husband's, we sud- 
denly — in an out-of-the-way spot — came across this very statue, 
which I immediately recognized as an old friend. The Comtesse 
de St. C, my companion, had never before beheld it, and I was 
somewhat amused at finding myself explaining to a Frenchwoman 
what had been its original destination. 

Although our stay in Paris in the sumimer of 1870 was of 
barely three weeks' duration it appeared much longer because of 
the many emotions experienced during that time. There was the 
ceaseless looking for news ; the daily alternating rumors of victory 
and defeat ; the former proving, alas ! erroneous ; and the latter in- 
variably ail too true. So intense was the interest, that we young 
people at least, were pleased at knowing we could not get passage 
home for some weeks to come. There was excitement every- 
where, and I well remember driving one day to the Compagnie 
des Indes — that wonderful lace emporium — when our fiacre was 
stopped by the great shouting press of people, and a man mount- 
ing the carriage step, and leaning right in between us, shrieked 
aloud, " Grande Victoire! Grande Victoire! " I must confess 
that I stood up and screamed with the crowd myself! It was a 



370 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

common thing to see and hear the great opera singers of that day, 
Madame Sass, Capoul, and others, stopped upon the Boulevards 
while they sang " Partant pour la Syrie," and other patriotic 
songs; which, after the battle of Sedan (September ist), and the 
spreading of the knowledge that Bazaine and his army were 
bottled up in Metz, changed abruptly to the Marseillaise. 

Strange as it may seem the Guignols (Punch and Judy shows) 
on the Champs Elysees did a thriving business during that time, 
and these we found to be regularly patronized by my brothers 
Edmund and Carlton — aged respectively five and two years — 
who, with their nurse, were to be found every afternoon at the 
time of opening, seated in the front row of one particular booth, 
where their merry laughter and the enchanted guffaws of their 
colored attendant attracted quite as much attention as did the 
antics of the pupazzi. 

And all this time the French were suffering reverse after reverse, 
but not without making the Germans pay heavily for their vic- 
tories. 

On September 2nd, the French army being completely sur- 
rounded by the Germans, and having lost seventeen thousand in 
killed and wounded, surrendered, and Napoleon himself was taken 
prisoner. France no longer had an army; one had capitulated 
at Sedan; the other was locked up in Metz. 

On the day following this disaster my father went into the 
banking house of Munroe & Co., and there Mr. Munroe, taking 
him aside, told him that he must immediately take his family out 
of Paris, else they would not be able to leave at all. 

It was but a question of a few hours before we were on our 
way to Havre, and that in company with the wives and families 
of many of the officers of the U. S. European Squadron. We 
were among the last of the foreign population to leave, and Mrs. 
Little (mother of Ensign Wm. McCarthy Little), having for- 



PARIS IN AUGUST, 1870 371 

gotten to take her box of jewels from the bank, her son returned 
the following day to get it, and he declared it would indeed have 
been impossible for a large party to leave Paris later than we had 
done. 

In Havre we had to wait many days before the sailing of the 
steamer Ville de Paris, on which our passage was engaged. The 
hotel at which we were staying was crowded with people fleeing 
like ourselves, from the French capital, and all waiting an oppor- 
tunity to get across either to England or the United States. 

Finally, after what would be considered today a somewhat 
lengthy crossing, we reached Morristown, N. J., where we found 
my grandfather recovering from the effects of a sunstroke, about 
which we had been cabled, though too late for the message to 
be received; and from where my father wrote, on September 24th, 
to Commodore James Alden: 

" I have the honor to report my arrival at this place, in obedi- 
ence to the Department's orders of the 8th of August, 1870. 

" Very resp'tfully, etc." 



CHAPTER XXIV 
LAST YEARS 

Although placed on the retired list on March ist, 1870, Rear 
Admiral Radford had no sooner reported his arrival in the United 
States than he received an order to " proceed to Washington, 
D. C, by the ist of October next, and report to Rear Admiral 
Jos. Smith, at the Department, for duty as Member of the 
Examining Board of which he is President." 

For the following two years Radford served on different Naval 
Boards under the Presidency of Rear Admiral Jos. Smitli, of Rear 
Admiral Theodore Bailey and of Vice Admiral Rowan, showing — 
as reads the record — that '' his experience and knowledge were 
made use of many times by the Government." 

We were all greatly pleased at finding ourselves again in Wash- 
ington, and were shortly settled in a house on what is now Q 
Street, N.W., but which was then Stoddert Street, named for 
Benjamin Stoddert of Georgetown, first Secretary of the Navy. 
My father enjoyed being among his old friends once more, and 
many a hearty laugh would come from the smoking-room of an 
evening as they would sit there together over their cigars. Gen- 
eral Grant, who was then President, would occasionally drop in 
for a smoke and chat. 

In the autumn of 1871 my father made a visit to St. Louis, and 
the following letter from his brother, Mr. Jefferson Clark, was 
written after his return. 

372 




^ 



:^ 



in 

in 

6 



LAST YEARS 373 

Minoma, St. Louis Co., Nov. 19th, 187 1, 
" Dear Brother, 

" I received yours of the 9th, and was glad to see that you had 
arrived safely in the bosom of your loving family, although I 
would have been more gratified if you could have remained with 
us longer — which I flatter myself would have been the case had 
not the momentary arrival of the Grand Duke Alexis hurried you 
back before your visit was half completed here. I wish I had you 
here now, for I have just heard of a most excellent new place to 
hunt geese, swan, ducks and grouse, and as for quail they say 
there is no end of them. And what is most important for me, 
now that I am growing old, is that there is a good house to live in 
about a half mile from the lake, and no pot hunters about. Can't 
you come back after this description and let Alexis slide on the 
briny deep? . . . We enjoyed your visit so much that we desire 
to see you now more than ever, and if you can't come yourself 
send on some other member of your family. I should like to 
see M. and S., and dear Sister Mary more than all if she could 
make it convenient to come. 

" Your affectionate Bro., 

" J. K. Clark." 

That my father's cordial relations with his cousin G. Wythe 
Munford were always kept up is shown by the following extracts 
from a letter. 

" Richmond, Nov. 21, 1873. 
'' Dear William, 

" Every now & then, when I am looking back at old times, 
memory brings back to me the pleasant scenes we have passed 
together & the kind friendship I have felt for you & yours. 
Over & over again have I wished we could be together as in our 
youthful days, & again in our prime, & I often think of the 



374 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

time when you & j'our sweet bride, then in her bloom, came on 
to see us at Richmond, and I still hope we may have the pleasure 
of having you once more in my house at Richmond. . . . 

'* I write now simply to ask your favorable attention to my 
brotlier-in-law, Ben Tucker. Of course you know him. He is 
the same pleasant companion & gentleman he has always been. 
He will be in Washington ... on behalf of the Messrs. Talbott, 
who have a large & extensive foundry & machine manufac- 
turing establishment here. The activity in the Navy Yards of the 
United States has induced them to think that there may be con- 
tracts being let out for shot & shell, or for engines & machinery 
in their line, which they would be glad to obtain. 

" Mr. Charles H. Talbott, one of the firm, married my daugh- 
ter. This is the only personal interest I have in the matter . . . 
however, I have thought if the Government would give to the 
Southern people some of their contracts in these times, they 
would do more to restore good feeling than perhaps in any other 
way. Portsmouth & Gosport are feeling the spring from the 
little activity the Cuban excitement is occasioning, & a crumb 
or two to Richmond would be thankfully received. 

" You know the ropes, the kind of men to approach, & how 
to manage these matters. Give Mr. Tucker a helping hand & put 
him in communication with the proper men. . . . 

" Remember me affectionately to your wife, & believe me 
sincerely your cousin & friend, 

" George W. Munford." 

Another letter from the same to the same, dated, " Richmond, 

Jan. nth, 1874," says: " I have been here for the last six months 

preparing for the State a new edition of the Code of Virginia, 

which has been just finished, & is now published. ... I induced 

I my wife to come up with me for a' short time, leaving all the girls 



LAST YEARS 375 

down in Gloucester. ..." He then mentions his daughters by 
name and concludes: " I name them all that you may know 
the number, & sympathize with me in the situation, — ten 
daughters! " 

In addition to these there were four sons, the eldest of whom, 
General Thomas Munford, a leading citizen of Lynchburg — whose 
wife was a Miss Tayloe, of the well-known Washington family 
of that name — died during the year 19 16. 

Being, upon our return from Europe, not yet fully sixteen, I 
was busy for the two ensuing years with my studies, and, in 
1873, '^ came out," with a large circle of friends and acquaint- 
ances, in Washington Society. In the spring of 1874 I visited my 
relatives in St. Louis, and, coming East, via Niagara, in the early 
part of July, with my aunt Mrs. Kearny, and my cousin, Stephen 
Kearny, joined my father and sister at the White Sulphur Springs. 
There we spent a delightful month. My father, who was a 
favorite with both young and old, having always ready some amus- 
ing jest that would make him the life of any party, enjoying it as 
greatly as any of us. Among Washingtonians there that summer 
were Mr. Wm. Corcoran, with his little granddaughter Lulie Eustis, 
and her aunt Miss Eustis; and Mrs. Ogle Tayloe, who had 
with her her niece, Lily Price — later the Duchess of Marl- 
borough. 

In November of that year my sister married Mr. Randolph 
Coyle, Assistant District Attorney; and two years later we moved 
to a house my father had just built at 1736 N Street. There, in 
1878, my own marriage with a member of the Russian Diplomatic 
Corps took place. 

As this was the first Russian wedding that had occurred in 
Washington since that of the Russian Minister, Mr. Bodisco, and 
Miss Williams — (which was in 1837) — there was quite a little 
interest taken in the event. 



376 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

The priest of the Russian church in New York was to come 
on to perform the ceremony at the house, after which the Episcopal 
service was to be held at the Church of the Ascension. It was 
at first proposed to have only the bridesmaids and groomsmen, 
beside the family and immediate relatives, present at the first 
ceremony, but Mrs. Hayes, the wife of the President, having 
intimated that she would be much pleased to attend, this program 
had to be slightly modified. 

In 1882 my father purchased a summer residence in Barnstable, 
Mass.; and there were held yearly family gatherings in which, 
however, my husband and I, with our young son, did not long 
participate, as, at the end of the year 1883, we left the United 
States, and I saw my father only once again after that time. 
That was during the summer of 1886, when, leaving my hus- 
band and son in Berne, Switzerland, I came to this country 
and spent two months with my mother and father in Barn- 
stable. 

While I was there my father received a letter recalling a page 
of days long past, and proving the writer to be possessed of a 
wonderfully retentive memory. It was dated, " Cuthbert, Ga., 
Aug. 20th, '86," and was, in part, as follows: 

" You will no doubt have concluded that I have passed away, 
like all of our brother midshipmen of the Brandywine 61 years 
ago. 

" If I mistake not you and myself are the only survivors of all 
the officers that were attached to the Brandywine. I have often 
thought of you and the other midshipmen and I send a list 
of the officers so that you may know I am no adventurer. . . . 
My recollection is perfect as you will see by the list of officers I 
send, as I have no log-book to refer to. I have only met one or 
two of our shipmates in 50 years, Brent and Maury, yet I have 
not forgotten one. ... I saw Capt. W. H. Hunter last Jan. 7th, 



LAST YEARS 377 

in N. O. he was attached to the North Carolina when we were in 
Minorca. I am in my 8ist year. . . . Would be pleased to hear 
from you, and to learn if there are any other of the officers alive, 
and hoping I have not trespassed on your patience, I remain 

" Your obt. Servt. and old Shipmate, 

" Sol. D. Belton." 

Accompanying this was a list of the officers of the U. S. 
Frigate Brandywine, commencing with the name of Capt. Charles 
Morris, and including those of First Lieut. Francis H. Gregory, 
Lieut. David Farragut, and Midshipmen Richard Page, W. D. 
Porter, brother of Admiral D. D. Porter, Wm. Radford, etc., 
which is given in the chapter on La Fayette. 

In Admiral Radford's answer to this letter we read: 

" Your kind and agreeable letter of Aug. 20th, gave me much 
pleasure. . . . You are a little older than I am but your memory 
and vivacity have not in the least failed as you have shown by 
giving me the list of officers ' from memory ' who sailed on the 
Brandywine when she took Gen. La Fayette back to France in 
1825. Richard Page is still alive, and I am told he is as erect as 
ever. Admiral Farragut was one of the Brandywine^ s Lieutenants, 
and I think the greatest naval captain of his age." 

David Glasgow Farragut, the first Admiral of the United 
States Navy, was born in Tennessee, on July 5th, 1801. His father, 
George Farragut, was born on the island of Minorca, and came to 
America in 1776, where he was appointed sailing master in the 
Navy. He was stationed in New Orleans, and there in 1808, his 
beloved wife — Elizabeth Shine, of North Carolina — fell a victim 
to yellow fever. Her funeral occurred at the same time as that 
of Sailing Master David Porter, father of the celebrated Com- 
modore Porter, who had been cared for in the Farraguts' home. 
'' Not long after his father's death," writes D. G. Farragut in his 



378 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

memoirs, " Commander David Porter took command of the Naval 
Station at New Orleans and having heard that his father died 
at our house, and had received some attention from my parents, 
he determined to visit us and adopt such one of the children as 
desired to go with him. He accordingly came to see us, and . . . 
the question of adoption was put to us all, when I said promptly 
that I would go." 

Farragut's appointment in the Navy bearing date December 
17th, 1 8 10, was received when he was a little more than nine years 
and five months old. In August, 181 1, Porter took command 
of the Essex, and young Farragut accompanied him. 

Great as was Farragut's native genius as a naval officer, he 
no doubt owed much to the opportunity which placed him at so 
early an age a midshipman on the Essex, under the vigilant 
and friendly eye that watched over his first professional training. 
He was but thirteen years old at the time of the fight, off the 
harbor of Valparaiso, between the Essex and two British ships- 
of-war, the Phoebe and the Cherub; and he so conducted himself 
during that bloody conflict that Porter wrote he " deserved the 
promotion for which he was too young to be recommended." 

In January, 1825, Farragut was commissioned Lieutenant, and 
ordered to the Brafidywine. Two years earlier he had married 
Miss Marchant, who died in 1840. In December, 1843, ^^ "^^r- 
ried Miss Loyall, of Norfolk, Va. On the outbreak of the Civil 
War he was obliged to leave Norfolk, because of his loyalty. In 
January, 1862, he was given command of the Western Gulf 
Squadron, and sent against New Orleans. 

On April 24th, he attacked and passed Forts Jackson and St. 
Philip with his fleet, and captured New Orleans. 

On July 1 6th, he was commissioned Rear Admiral. March 14, 
1863, he passed the batteries at Port Hudson. August ist he 
sailed for New York, and in January, 1864, for the Gulf. Oa 



LAST YEARS 379 

August 5th, he attacked and passed the defenses of Mobile Bay, 
and conquered the Rebel Fleet. August 23rd he received sur- 
render of Fort Morgan. December 23rd, was commissioned Vice 
Admiral. January 23rd, 1865, was ordered temporarily to James 
River. April 4th, he entered Richmond. July 25th, 1866, was 
commissioned Admiral. June 28th, 1867, he sailed from New York 
in the Franklin for a cruise in European waters. November loth, 
1868, reached New York. During the summer of 1869 he visited 
the Pacific Coast. 

Admiral Farragut's last official duty was to take charge of the 
Naval obsequies of George Peabody, when the remains arrived 
at Portland in H.B.M ship Monarch, in January, 1870. 

On August 14th, 1870, at the age of 69 he quietly passed away in 
Portsmouth; the remains were sent to New York and a public 
funeral held there on September 31st. Congress appropriated 
$20,000 for the erection of a colossal bronze statue of Admiral 
Farragut, which stands in Farragut Square, Washington, D. C. 

Another letter of Belton's dated, " Oct. i3th,/86," reads in part: 
'' I see by the papers that one of Gen'l La Fayette's grandsons 
has been appointed by the French Government to visit Nev/ York 
and be present at the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty on the 
28th, (if I mistake not). How I would like for you and Page 
and myself if we could be present and see him. We could tell 
him our names are inscribed on the Urn we presented his Grand- 
father, etc." 

In the Navy Department records I find the following: " Solo- 
mon D. Belton, appointed midshipman Jan. ist, 1825; resigned 
Feb. i6th, 1827." 

In September, 1889, "ly son, then slightly under ten years of age, 
entered a Russian Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg; in which event 
my father took the deepest interest. That was the year when 
the " Russian Grippe," as it was called, made its first appearance. 



38o OLD NAV.\L DAYS 

# 

and my boy was in the school infirmary with an attack of this 

when the Emperor Alexander III and the Empress Marie Feodo- 

rovna made a visit to this Corps. No date was ever set for the 

yearly visits which the Russian sovereigns habitually made to the 

different educational establishments in St. Petersburg, since their 

object was to ascertain exactly how they were conducted, and to 

witness the daily life of the scholars without any preparation 

having been made for their arrival. 

After attending Divine Service in the chapel of the school, or 
cadet corps, if it were military, their Majesties would make a 
thorough inspection of the classrooms, dining-hall, and each and 
every part of the building. A copy of the official report of that 
visit was sent me at that time, and in it we read: 

" Entering the infirmary followed by his suite, His Majesty ap- 
proached the bed of a ten year old Cadet, Meissner, and com- 
menced talking with him, asking: ' who were his parents? Where 
was he born? ' and other questions; after which, turning to his 
suite, His Majesty called their attention to the manner in which 
this young boy spoke Russian; saying: ^ Born in the United 
States — of an American mother — coming to Russia only now to 
enter the service, and yet speaking Russian as though born and 
bred in this country! This, Gentlemen, is a lesson for those 
who tell me that Russian is too difficult a language for their 
children to learn.' " 

It is a well known fact that the Emperor Alexander III made 
every endeavor to restore the use of the Russian language to the 
Court circles, where it was being greatly superseded by French. 

Four months after the entry of his grandson into the " Nicholas 
Cadet Corps," on January 8th, 1890, Rear Admiral Wm. Radford 
was taken from this world, leaving, as has been justly said: "A 
record of loyalty to his country only rivaled by that of his mag- 
nanimity toward those who conscientiously differed from him." 




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LAST YEARS 381 

Rear Admiral Radford was a Charter member of the Metro- 
politan Club in Washington, when it had its quarters on the 
corner of Fifteenth and H streets, and afterwards in the old 
" Morris House," on H Street and Vermont Avenue. Elected a 
member of the Board of Governors of that Club on December i8th, 
1875, he served in that capacity until December 13th, 1881. The 
Board at that time consisted of ten governors, among whom were 
also General Sherman and Admiral Porter. 

His membership in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion 
dated from March 7th, 1866. 

In closing, I find a tribute to his memory published shortly 
after his taking from this world, in the Cape Cod Item, which 
gives so Just and accurate an estimate of his character that I feel 
I cannot do otherwise than insert it here. 

" Rear Admiral William Radford, for several years past a sum- 
mer resident of this village, which he always found very agreeable 
to his professional tastes and his health, died at his home in 
Washington, D. C. He will be missed sadly by many here who 
were privileged to enjoy his society and who found him in private 
life to be one of the most agreeable of gentlemen, and full of 
reminiscences touching the old Naval life of the Republic of 
which every intelligent American citizen should be proud. 

" Cape Cod, so proud of her own seamen, salutes always with 
respect and honor all our great Captains who have helped maintain 
the honor of that Flag, under which, for a century or more the 
Cape seamen have been protected in their peaceable commerce 
and fisheries. Nowhere in the land will the death of such a man 
as Admiral Radford evoke a more sincere and immediate pang 
of regret than here. The bodies of our brave seamen and soldiers 
return indeed to the dust from whence they came, but they them- 
selves make the land richer for their warlike honor which hence- 



382 OLD NAVAL DAYS 

forth lives with the Flag which they served, and makes it richer 
for Patriotic homage. 

" Yet it was not as a sailor, but as a man, that Admiral Rad- 
ford always drew those who approached him close to him. 

" A man of middle stature and size with a keen, incisive eye, 
fit to look through a man or a battle smoke, as if always ready to 
sight a gun; prompt in his opinions, and alert to assert them if 
need was; alive to all that concerned his Country or his friend, 
he was yet frank, cordial, simple, hospitable, sincere and gracious 
more than many of his eminency. With our regrets mingles our 
gratitude that this, our dear Friend, lived and wrought so 
well. 

'' A man who knew him briefly and yet was drawn to him most 
tenderly by his simple majesty of worth and honor, lays down 
this poor leaf of record at the gates of memory within which has 
disappeared so true and amiable a man as Admiral Radford." 

Of Rear Admiral Radford's descendants three grandsons served 
with the United States forces during this country's participation 
in the Great World War. 

Pvobert Armstrong Radford, Captain 21st Engineers, A. E. F. 
(son of S. K. Radford), served for nineteen months over seas. 

William Radford Coyle, Major Marine Corps Reserve, was 
engaged in training men at Marine Training Station, Paris Island, 
S. C. 

Major Randolph Coyle, U. S. M. C, commanded Marines 
U. S. S. Wyoming, British Grand Fleet, December, 191 7, to De- 
cember, 19 1 8. 

Rear Admiral Radford's grandson, Alexandre de Meissner, 
Cornet of the 44th Regiment of Dragoons of the Imperial Russian 
Army, is no longer in this world. 



LAST YEARS 383 

On April 5th, 19 1 8, the torpedo boat destroyer Radford, named 
in honor of Rear Admiral Wm. Radford, was launched at the 
Newport News shipyards, and christened by Miss Mary Lovell 
Radford, granddaughter of the Admiral, assisted by her sister 
Miss Sophie A. Radford. 

Sophie Radfobld de Meissner. 



APPENDIX 

General Butler's report of the action on the 24th and 25th Inst. 

^' Head-Quarters Department, 
" Virginia and North Carolina, 
" December 25th, 1864. 
" Admiral, 

" Upon landing the troops and making a thorough reconnois- 
sance of Fort Fisher, both General Weitzel and myself are fully of 
the opinion that the place could not be carried by assault, as it was 
left substantially uninjured as a defensive work by the Navy fire. 
We found seventeen (17) guns, protected by traverses, two (2) 
only of which were dismounted, bearing up the beach and covering 
a strip of land, the only practicable route, not more than wide 
enough for a thousand men in line of battle. Having captured 
Flag Pond Hill Battery, the garrison of which sixty-five (65) 
men and two (2) commissioned officers were taken off by the 
Navy, we also captured Half Moon Battery and seven (7) officers 
and two hundred and eighteen (218) men of the Third N. C. 
Junior Reserves, including its commander, from whom I learned 
that a portion of Hoke's Division, consisting of Kirkland's and 
Haygood's Brigades, had been sent from the lines before Richmond 
on Tuesday last, arriving at Wilmington Friday night. 

*^ General Weitzel advanced his skirmish line within fifty (50) 
yards of the fort, while the garrison was kept in their bomb-proofs 
by the fire of the Navy, and so closely that three (3) or four (4) 
men of the picket line ventured upon the parapet and through 
the sally-port of the work, capturing a horse, which they brought 

385 



386 APPENDIX 

off, killing the orderly who was the bearer of a despatch from 
the chief of artillery of General Whiting to bring a light battery 
within the fort, and also brought away from the parapet the flag 
of the fort. 

" This was done while the shells of the Navy were falling about 
the heads of the daring men who entered the work, and it was 
evident as soon as the fire of the Navy ceased because of the 
darkness, that the fort was fully manned again and opened with 
grape and canister upon our picket line. 

" Finding that nothing but the operatiops of a regular siege, 
which did not come within my instructions, would reduce the 
fort, and in view of the threatening aspect of the weather, wind 
arising from the south-east, rendering it impossible to make further 
landing through the surf I caused the troops, with their prisoners, 
to re-embark, and see nothing further that can be done by the 
land forces. I shall therefore sail for Hampton Roads as soon 
as the transport fleet can be got in order. 

" My engineers and officers report Fort Fisher to me as sub- 
stantially uninjured as a defensive work. 

" I have the honor to be, 

" Very respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 
" Benj. F. Butler, 

" Major General Commanding. 

"To 

" Rear-Admiral Porter, 
Comdg. N. A. Blockading Squadron." 



APPENDIX 387 



General Order, 
No. 75. 



" North Atlantic Squadron, 

" Flag-Ship Malvern, 
*' December 30th, 1864. 

" As a question may arise (owing to the army authorities having 
concluded to re-embark) whether Fort Fisher was in a condition 
to resist an assault, I call upon the officers under my command 
to. make me a report of the part they took in the actions of the 
24th and 25th instants, and the damage apparently done to the 
works. General Butler assigns as a reason for not operating 
against Fort Fisher, that it was " iminjured as a defensive work "; 
which is a reflection on the skill of our gunners, and the officers 
who commanded them. 

" As a matter of history hereafter to be referred to, I wish not 
only to have from each commander the effect of our firing, but 
their impressions with regard to the defensibility of the fort, 
(battered as it was) against a combined attack of Army and 
Navy. 

" I myself am quite satisfied with the result of our share of the 
work, and could I have foreseen what happened, would have as- 
saulted after dark with the sailors, and carried it at that. 

"David D. Porter, 
" Rear- Admiral, 
" Comd'g North Atlantic Squadron." 



388 APPENDIX 

" Report of the Action of the 24th & 25th Dec. 1864. 

U. S. S. New Ironsides f 
" (Anchored at Sea, *' Beaufort" bearing N. N. West, distant 

about five (5) miles.) 
" Sir, 

" I have the honor to report, that in obedience to your orders, 
I took position, under the guns of " Fort Fisher," from Thirteen, 
to Fifteen Hundred yds. distant, or, as near, as the depth of water 
would permit. The Monitors Canonictis, Monadnock, and Ma- 
hopac, following the New Ironsides in. As soon as I anchored, 
I opened my Starboard Battery, and, continued a well directed 
fire for some five (5) hours, night coming on, I hauled off, in 
obedience to your orders. On the morning of the 25th, the Iron 
Clad Division again led in under the guns of " Fort Fisher," 
and took the position we occupied the day previous. The 
" Saugus" having arrived the night previous, took her station, 
and this Division, in connection with the others, drove the men 
from the guns in the Fort, they only firing one or two guns, 
and those at long intervals. All the Monitors were handled and 
fought well. Lieut. Commander Belknap took the inshore berth, 
and is reported to have dismounted one or more guns in the 
Fort. Judging from the immense number of shells which struck 
the Fort, it must have been considerably injured. Several guns 
were reported to have been dismounted. Two explosions took 
place, and three fires. The face of the Fort was very much plowed 
up by the shells from the Fleet. If the Fort was uninjured, 
(as a defensive work) no artillery known to modern warfare 
can do it. My impression is, that any considerable number of 



APPENDIX 389 

troops could have stormed and taken the Fort immediately after 
the 2nd day's bombardment, with but little loss. 

" All the Officers and men belonging to the " New Ironsides" 
served their guns and Country well, and I am greatly indebted 
to Lieut. Commander Phythian, the Executive Officer, for his 
energy and ability in getting the crew, and ship in such good 
fighting order. 

" Very Respectfully, 

" Your Obdt. Servt., 
''Wm. Radford, 
" Com. Comdg. Iron Clad Div. 
" Rear Admiral 
" David D. Porter. 
" Comdg. N. A. Squadron. 
" Flagship Malvern.^^ 



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